Shadowlands
by aimdiscord
Summary: The "right" wish would purify the Shikon no Tama. Yet there is no such thing as an unselfish desire. Now, Kagome and Sesshoumaru must pass through Hell itself to defeat the Jewel for good. /SessKag, CU/ Nominated: 4th Qtr 2008 Dokuga, 1st Qtr 2009 IYFG!
1. Memento

Blurb: When the last one to hold the Shikon no Tama makes the right wish, the Jewel will be purified and disappear. Yet there is no such thing as an unselfish desire. Now, Kagome and Sesshoumaru must pass through Hell itself, to defeat the Jewel for good.

Author's Note: This is what happens when I read the ending of the manga, backwards. Taken in reverse, like the movie Memento, it seemed very sinister. **SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE MANGA**.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 1: Memento **

"Ah!" cried Kagome in delight. Sesshoumaru had made yet another visit to the village! And that probably meant that Rin had acquired another new kimono, small trinket or gift that the taiyoukai would never, ever admit to giving his little ward.

As the regal dog-demon soared overhead, an invisible imp must have bitten her and infected her with a need to make mischief, because she abruptly came up with a plan to piss Sesshoumaru off (in a nice, friendly sort of way). Cupping one hand to her mouth, Kagome shouted at the top of her lungs, "Big BROTHER! It's so nice to see you again!!"

White hair flashed in the sun as the inu-youkai turned and glared daggers in her general direction, before high-tailing it out of the vicinity. A taiyoukai did not deign to answer such ridiculous statements or linger in the area where crazy-human-priestesses were lurking about. Kagome watched him go, disappointed by his lack of reaction.

But in the end, her real message was not for Sesshoumaru - it was for Inuyasha. By calling Sesshoumaru her big brother, then she could send Inuyasha a not-so-subtle _hint_ as to her feelings about him. Maybe one of these days, Inuyasha would actually get the point.

"Aw! He made an ugly face at me," pouted the priestess, turning to her half-demon companion. "And Inuyasha, so are you!"

"That sounded so very wrong," muttered the half-demon. Clearly, he was not comfortable with her saying such things. She wondered if it was because she had implied a sense of closeness with the taiyoukai, Inuyasha's despised half-brother, or because she had implied that she was in a relationship with _him_. She hoped it was not the latter. But deep down, she knew the truth. Inuyasha just wanted to be her friend, and nothing more.

After the Shikon no Tama had disappeared, she had returned to the future, while Inuyasha had returned to the past. And after that, it was like her worst nightmare come true - the Bone Eater's Well had stopped working entirely! She had finished high school, somberly determined to do her best in spite of it all. But when she received her diploma, she found herself staring at the bottom of the well and wishing...

Well, no, not really wishing... more like hoping... She was really rather frightened of making wishes, what with her bad experiences with the Shikon no Tama...

In any case, she had found herself staring at the bottom of the well and _hoping _that the time-traveling Well would allow her to pass once more. At last, after three years, it had. In the end, she had realized that she needed to make a choice. Kagome could not wait for Inuyasha to return to her, because her own feelings were the reason the Bone Eater's Well had closed in the first place. For a moment in time, she had wanted to be with her parents and friends, instead of her hanyou companion.

Now, she wanted to be with him, more than anything in the world. After three years, however, their relationship was friendly and awkward, all at once. On the one hand, Inuyasha had grown more stable and changed for the better. Settling down in a village had done wonders for his personality. On the other hand, his newfound sense of calm had made him far more attractive to the other villagers, and she noticed young women sending shy glances in his direction far too often.

Could she really compete for his affection? She wanted him to love her, and only her, but every time she opened her mouth to speak her feelings, something choked her and the words died in her throat. It wasn't that she lacked confidence - she knew Inuyasha once had strong feelings for her...

But every time, an unidentifiable _something_ made her stop from professing her love to the white-haired, dog-eared boy. A warning, of sorts. A tiny part of her heart would caution her and question why she could not simply be happy _with what she had_, instead of asking for more.

Kagome was not a selfish person. If Inuyasha truly loved her, then this would make her deliriously happy. But if he wanted to move on to greener pastures, then that was all right too. It had to be, because she had already asked the gods for too much. Her purpose in the past had ended with the destruction of the Shikon no Tama, and yet she had prayed and hoped and begged fate to allow her to return. And finally, the gods had answered. How could she ask for more?

Watching Inuyasha smile and walk away, a chill ran down her spine and she turned toward the forest. Nothing untoward met her eye. How strange! For a moment, it had felt like an evil presence stood right behind her, staring over her shoulder.

_Make a wish_. The words entered her head suddenly. _All you have to do is wish for it, and Inuyasha will love you in return_.

But of course, Kagome shook her head. Wishes never did anyone any good. She wanted _him_ to make the first move. Only then could she be certain her feelings were returned. Yes, only then.

After being given such a wonderful gift, after being allowed to live in the past with her friends and her love, she had no right to wish for more. She would wait patiently for Inuyasha to come to her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Congratulations!" shouted Yuka, with a huge grin. The weight of her diploma, nicely wrapped in a black cylindrical case, sat in her palm as if to prove it had really happened. She, Kagome Higurashi, had graduated high-school. Imagine that. Years ago, when she fought monsters and demons in ancient Japan, she had worried about merely living through the week.

Her mother stood beside her, a comforting presence, and smiled at the other girls. "And to you," nodded Mrs. Higurashi politely, "What do you all plan on doing in the university?"

"I plan on being an interpreter," replied Ayumi calmly.

Yuka jumped right in with her usual spunk and stated that she would become an announcer, while Eri chuckled at Yuka's expense. "I bet you can't even become 'Miss Campus'!" Eri responded.

"And you?" Ayumi, the more soft-spoken of the three suddenly asked, staring at Kagome with a piercing look. "What about you, Kagome?"

The black-haired priestess only smiled and shook her head. Her dreams were already over. Secretly, she wanted to grow up and become a knowledgeable miko, like Kaede, but that chapter of her life had ended, and she was left alone. Really, what _would_ she do with the rest of her life?

Three days after the Bone Eater's Well had disappeared, Inuyasha had come for her in the darkness and saved her from Naraku's evil scheme. They had magically reappeared in the future, in a pillar of light, and she had been so relieved to see friendly faces once more, that she had leapt out of Inuyasha's arms onto the ground and rushed to embrace her mother. Crying and holding each other, Kagome and her mother had looked up at Inuyasha with grateful tears in their eyes, and then...

He had disappeared.

She could still remember the look on Inuyasha's face, as the Bone Eater's Well took him away, back through time to the Warring States Era. A ghostly light had surrounded him, making him look ethereal and more handsome than ever. Eyes open wide, Inuyasha had seemed startled but resigned to their separation. After all, hadn't they always known it would come to this? With her on one side of the barrier of time, and him on the other? The future and past had coincided for a little while, circling around to meet each other, but now that her mission in the past was complete, she had to stay in her native era.

A small part of her wondered what would have happened if she had only waved at her mother, if she had remained in Inuyasha's arms. Maybe then the Bone Eater's Well would have taken her back too. But in that split second, when she stepped down off the lip of the time-traveling well, she had not known she was making a permanent choice. She had not known she would never return to the past.

If she had only known, then maybe she could have weighed her options and made the right choice.

What was the right choice?

She loved her family, and she was glad to have finished high-school, making her mother and grandfather proud. But she loved Inuyasha too, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, wherever that might be. If she had to live in the past, never to see her family again, then so be it. Yes, that was the choice she would have made.

And now, she would never have the chance to tell him how she truly felt. She had never even thanked Inuyasha for saving her life. The bitterness of it welled up inside of her, cutting off her air.

_If I still had the Shikon no Tama_, she thought sadly, _Then I would be able to travel back and forth from the past. I know I did the right thing to destroy it, but I miss the Warring States Era. Sometimes, I wish... _

With a gasp, she shook her head and cut off that train of thought. No wishes! For heaven's sake, after all she had been through in middle-school, she should have learned one basic fact by now - wishes never made anyone happy, only hard work did that! Wishes on the Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls, were especially bad. Like Miroku-sama once said, it likely was not possible to make an unselfish wish. A wish, by its very nature, was the outward expression of desire, and desires were always personal, always selfish.

Waving goodbye to her friends, Kagome returned to the shrine in silence. There would be time enough to worry about her college education tomorrow. She had applied to a local, small school, since her grades were not that great, but she still did not know what degree she hoped to achieve. Part of her still was holding its breath, still waiting for Inuyasha to return, for the Bone Eater's Well to open again.

Surely, one day, it would. There was no need to make futile wishes - she could be patient. When the time was right, she would see her friends again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The nightmare always began the same way - suddenly. It didn't matter what she just had been dreaming about, a black curtain would come down over the dreamscape in the blink of an eye, and she would find herself cloaked in darkness. She felt like she was sinking, alone, without bearing in an utter void.

Lost in the midst of this terrible darkness, she could run, but never get anywhere, she could scream, but never be heard. The pitch black surroundings overwhelmed and disoriented her. It would have driven her insane - if she hadn't known that she would wake eventually.

Eventually, Kagome realized she was crying. The tears ran down her cheeks in silence, and she touched her face in wonder. What was there to cry about? This was only a dream. A vision. She had been here before, and she had been frightened back then, but Inuyasha had saved her from the darkness.

Hadn't he?

As usual, this nameless fear nibbled away at her courage. With a whimper, Kagome stopped and shivered, looking around herself at the empty darkness. Slowly, the absence of all light and life drained away her energy and her optimism.

Alone, forever, in this place. Terror pounced on her and wormed its way into her gut, forcing her breath into shorter and shorter gasps. Her skin broke into a sweat, yet she felt numb.

_Make a wish_, a nameless voice informed her, _And you can leave this place._

Confused, Kagome turned around, but nothing was behind her. Or perhaps, something _was_ there, and she simply could not see it, because there was no light? A breath of foul air drifted over her face, and she imagined Naraku in the darkness, staring back at her, laughing at her blindness.

But no, she knew - she _knew_ - this was not real! She would not wish for anything! Struggling to wake up, she screamed and opened her eyes...

... to hear her alarm going off in her bedroom. It was time to get up for school. In fact, it was past time - if she didn't hurry, then she would be late for first period. And after her terrible grades in middle-school she was determined to do better in high-school.

Throwing her plaid skirt, white shirt and dark green jacket over one arm, she rushed toward the bathroom to start her morning. The world flickered black for a moment as she looked in the mirror, but when she blinked, everything looked normal again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Kagome?!" a voice screamed out into the darkness. "Kagome can you hear me?"

Indeed, she could. But for a moment, Kagome was not sure whether she imagined it, or his voice was real. The earlier visions were so intensely realistic - how did she know for certain that this was not just another deception, perpetrated by the Shikon no Tama, in an effort to make her 'wish' for something?

"Inuyasha?" the dark-haired priestess called out tentatively, praying that her ears were telling her the truth... that her half-demon savior was really coming to rescue her, just like he always did. In the pitch dark, the Shikon no Tama pulsed and glowed more brightly, full of sinister energy.

How could she be sure? What if this was another trick? Full of despair, Kagome tried to focus on the facts of her situation. Since there was no way to tell if Inuyasha was really beside her, or not, she would simply have to ask herself - what would Inuyasha say to her, as opposed to the Shikon no Tama?

If this disembodied voice gave her good advice - words of wisdom that an evil Jewel would never bestow upon her - then she would know it was really Inuyasha who spoke. If the voice encouraged her to make a wish on the Jewel, even in a round-about way, then she would know it was false and the Shikon no Tama was simply trying to trick her again.

"Don't wish for anything, Kagome!" his voice continued, in a frenzy. "Wait until I'm by your side, all right?"

Closing her eyes in relief, she realized what she heard had been real. Only Inuyasha would say something like that. She would wait for him to come to her. There must have been a good reason for his suggestion. She would keep the faith.

As she curled into a ball, lost in the darkness, the light around the Shikon no Tama began to fade. Before long, the stone was engulfed in blackness, literally crackling with evil energy.

And when she opened her eyes again, Inuyasha was the first thing she saw. With a touch, she verified that he was real. The half-demon had truly come.

Inuyasha would save her from the void! Everything was going to be all right.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Grandfather and the old priestess Kaede both told me that when someone makes the 'right wish' on the Shikon no Tama, it would be purified and disappear from this world. _

_But I don't believe that, anymore. Kikyou wished to see Inuyasha one more time - and as a result, she was reincarnated in me, and I was drawn back through time to the feudal era, setting off this entire chain of events. So many people have suffered because of such a simple, reasonable request. _

_And Naraku_, Kagome thought suddenly,_ Naraku must have wished to be loved by Kikyou. When the Shikon no Tama heard his request, it perverted his wish into something even more evil. And because he could never have her love, he decided no one else could either. _

_Which means... _she thought slowly, staring up at the glowing pinprick of light in her darkness, _There is no 'right wish' to make._ The realization tore through her, despair lancing through her heart.

The Shikon no Tama lit up the darkness, a sinister swirl of color. As it slowly rotated in space, the arrow that she had shot straight through the center of the stone twirled lazy circles over her head, as if taunting her. She wondered briefly why the Shikon no Tama had not shattered this time, when her arrow struck home. Perhaps it was because she had believed that the stone would not crack?

"The Shikon no Tama," murmured the young priestess, misery almost pouring out of her, "It doesn't grant your real wish, does it?"

There was only one thing to do, and one choice to make. The Jewel had to be destroyed, for the good of the world. But she was frightened too - if she made a wish, what would happen to her? The stone was bound to grant her wish, but it always tried to twist things around in an evil fashion. Her plan was simple and straightforward - she would instruct the Shikon no Tama to destroy itself.

But would the stone actually carry out her wish, at such a high cost to itself?

And if it did, what would become of her? Kagome's very soul was tied to the Jewel - would she disappear, along with the stone?

Suspended in motion, she could not decide what to do, and the battle of wills continued. Until she knew for sure the right words to say, she could not afford to wish for _anything_.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Mrs. Higurashi, I don't understand," said Yuka, with real fear leaking into her tone. "Even after she tried so hard to get in to High School, Kagome hasn't been to class once... _Where is she_?"

Kagome could hear her friends and see her mother and grandfather, sitting on the floor of the well-shrine, digging in the dirt. But the Bone Eater's Well was missing. She reached out to touch her mother and let the family know she was right behind them, and her hand went right through her mother's body. No one could see her. No one could hear her.

The darkness was closing in around her again.

_The Well has been closed_, whispered the Shikon no Tama. _You no longer have anywhere to go. _

Even without a voice, it sounded sinister in her mind, and she imagined the Jewel would look and sound just Naraku, if it had a body. After all, Naraku had surrendered his heart to darkness, contaminating and completely filling the Shikon no Tama with his own corrupted soul. So, in a way, the Shikon no Tama and Naraku were one and the same, at this point.

_Just wish to return to that world, and you can spend the rest of your life there - happy. Or, you can spend an eternity, here with us - alone. _

Heart racing, Kagome struggled to be free of the darkness. This sort of thing had happened before, right? She had been trapped in an illusion by Naraku before. The key was never to let the illusion get under your skin. Once you began to believe in the dream, then you were lost. And there was always something - something! - that could help her wake up. In fact, occasionally, she could break free of illusions by just crying out to her friends! If she was the only one trapped like this, then they might hear her, and... Well, they might be able to help somehow.

"Inuyasha!" she screamed, not really caring how pitiful it sounded. "Miroku-sama, Sango-chan!"

_No one is there, _the Jewel reminded her patiently, like a father lecturing a small child that refused to believe the truth. _No one is coming._

She closed her eyes, since it made no difference. The world around her was pitch black. Holding her breath, she shook her head and tried to calm down. To panic would help no one. She had to stay focused, and not succumb to its lies. These visions of hope and security, followed by despair and darkness, these were just tools that the Shikon no Tama would use to eat at her sanity. She would not yield.

_Make a wish_, it told her.

Flatly, Kagome refused. "Inuyasha will come for me. I have faith in him."


	2. Dreaming

Author's Note: In case you didn't understand the last chapter, this one should explain exactly where my story diverged from the canon manga. **SPOILERS for the end of the manga. ** Also spoilers for the manga chapters where Sesshoumaru travels to Hell to save Rin.

**Shadowlands **

**Chapter 2: Dreaming**

Inuyasha was utterly panicked and completely at a loss. Turning around in a circle again, he could not believe his eyes. How could this have happened? They had beaten Naraku, and yet, the evil-hanyou had managed to make this victory feel hollow.

Even as Naraku was dying, he was determined to ruin everyone else's lives. It had always been his mode of operation. If he couldn't have Kikyou, then no one could; if he was going to perish, then he would ensure the innocent villagers below him followed; if he could not win the day, then he would accept his defeat, but only if his foes no longer had hope and stayed behind in misery.

Kagome was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it. Naraku had made a wish on the Shikon no Tama – the ugliest wish possible – as if he wanted to ensure the stone would still be dark and corrupted even after his death, fueling its evil with the strength of his wish. The Bone Eater's Well was also gone. It was like the priestess and everything associated with her had never existed in the first place. She had been erased from history, but not from his mind.

Inuyasha stared at the ground and screamed, as though he could bring her back by force of will alone. In the background, no one moved or spoke. Even Sesshoumaru looked upset by Naraku's cowardly last-stand and the miko's disappearance.

Drawing Tessaiga, the hanyou watched as the blade turned black in an instant. "I'm going after her," he announced to the world at large. Then, opening the path of darkness that led to Hell, called the Meidou Zangetsuha, he moved forward…

… Only to be stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

His not-so-hated-anymore brother was standing right behind him, preventing him from entering the portal. The Lord of the Western Lands shook his head and told him in a subdued tone, "It will do no good. Those with human blood cannot survive in the depths of Hell."

Sesshoumaru's expression was blank, but Inuyasha detected an undercurrent of fury and fear. The fear was surprising, but the hanyou had other things on his mind at that moment. "Wha'dya mean, I can't go after her?" the white-haired boy growled, shaking his shoulder free. "I have to, don't you see?"

"It's true, Inuyasha-sama," came a young voice from the other side of the clearing. Kohaku stepped forward, mouth set in a grim line. "When the Meidou absorbed Rin, she died. Only the power of the Shikon shards kept me alive, at that time. Sesshoumaru-sama was unaffected, because he is a full-demon."

Amber eyes widened in horror. He… couldn't go after her? His half-human blood was holding him back, yet again. Again, he was too weak to make a difference and to save the ones he loved. It was unbearable.

"I don't care," he shouted, "I'm going anyway."

Then, the full extent of the dire situation struck him. If a human could not survive within the darkness of Hell, and Kagome had already been sucked in by the Meidou, then Kagome was _already dead_. There really was nothing he could do to save her.

Behind him, the portal faded. Each time it was opened, the gateway only lasted for a few seconds. It felt like a door to his heart had just been slammed shut, and his chest reverberated from the pain of it. She was gone. Just like that, she was taken from their lives, forever.

"Maybe she returned to her world?" suggested the demon-slayer hopefully. But it was obvious that no one really believed that. The awful truth had to be faced.

And then, the guilt in Sesshoumaru's gaze hardened into diamond. Of all the people in this group, he alone had the power to travel through the Meidou unscathed. Of course, he had lost he power to return, when he surrendered his technique, the Meidou Zangetsuha, to his half-brother. But if Inuyasha was willing to lend him the Tessaiga, then he could find his way back to the world, with the miko in tow.

It was possible that she might still be alive, although the chances were slim. Every second they wasted was another second lost from her life. There was no time for indecision – he would simply have to ask.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru ordered his younger sibling, "Lend me the Tessaiga."

His choice of words struck the dog-eared boy. The demon-lord had said 'lend' not 'give' – a subtle signal of Sesshoumaru's intent. Inuyasha's ears pricked forward immediately.

"What are you…"

"I will do what I can," the taiyoukai reassured his half-brother. The irony of the situation was not lost on him. Once he had coveted Tessaiga more than any other weapon in the world. And now that he had surrendered all desire for the blade, his half-brother would hand it over to him, without complaint, for the purpose of saving a human girl.

How the mighty had fallen…

But then, Sesshoumaru found that he didn't really mind. The idea of doing something his little brother could not always vaguely pleased him. And besides, annoying though the miko might have been, no one deserved to die like that. Naraku's last wish had been foul beyond belief. The taiyoukai would do whatever it took to foil the evil-hanyou's final plans.

Sensing his elder brother's resolve, Inuyasha met his gaze, unthreaded the Tessaiga from the sash at his hip, and held it out. Sesshoumaru loaned him Bakusaiga in return.

Nothing else needed to be said.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Miko," the voice called to her. She recognized it immediately – that deep and sonorous tone belonged to none other than Sesshoumaru, the Lord of the Western Lands.

With a start, Kagome turned around, but she could not see anyone behind her. She was sitting peacefully in Kaede's hut, sharing a simple repast with Rin and the older priestess. Inuyasha was visiting Miroku and Sango for the evening, and Shippo had tagged along for the ride. There was no one else in the hut, only the trainee priestess, her mentor, and a little girl.

"Miko," the taiyoukai's voice stated again, a little bit more urgently, "You must wake."

Confused, the priestess turned to look at little Rin, eating her meal without a care in the world, as though the girl could not hear her benefactor in the room. Kagome blinked in puzzlement and stood up, facing the doorway.

"Miko, there is little time left. Can you hear me?" Sesshoumaru spoke again, and this time, he was standing directly in front of her. She could not see him, but regardless, she could tell where the sound emanated. "Open your eyes."

"Sesshoumaru?" she replied, wondering if hearing invisible voices was just as serious a problem in the feudal era as in the modern one. "I hear you. Where are you?"

The old priestess Kaede and the young girl Rin both glanced up, curious, but then a soft touch fell on her shoulder, and the world fell away. Lost and disoriented for a moment, Kagome reeled, and the taiyoukai's grip kept her steady. Above her the Shikon no Tama glimmered, still suspended in space with an arrow embedded in the middle of it, and the shifting colors in the center of the stone were swirling angrily. Obviously, it did not appreciate this intrusion. And there, standing before her in the darkness was Sesshoumaru, looking as regal as ever, even in the midst of this nothingness.

Eyes wide, Kagome stared at her surroundings. She knew this place; she dreamt of it every night. But Inuyasha had rescued her from the Meidou, she knew it! Hadn't he? The same question plagued her each night in her sleep. And suddenly, without even asking, she realized the truth had been with her all along.

The stone had told her to make a wish. She had refused, because there was no such thing as a pure wish – the Jewel of Four Souls could taint any wish it touched. The only thing she could ask for was that the Jewel disappear, and herself with it. At that point, the Jewel must have trapped her in a dream so that she would NOT make the proper wish. Which meant that everything past that…

Oh God! Everything past that point must have been a dream. A dream! All this time, she had been lost in the darkness, alone. She had never finished high-school. She had never hugged her mother again or said goodbye. Not once had she laid her eyes on Sango and Miroku's three children, because _they had never had any_.

Tears began to stream from her eyes as the realization bit her deeply. "How long has it been?" the miko asked weakly. "How long?"

Tonelessly, the taiyoukai answered, "Mere minutes. Perhaps too long."

This caught her attention. How could a few minutes in this place be too long? Aside from the obvious reasons, of course – being lost in a dark, empty void, without the ability to see, hear or touch, it was really a huge-downer for one's sanity. Just look at herself, for example. She had already cracked up. For a few moments, Kagome had believed in her dream, believed so strongly that she regretted giving it up as much as she would regret not being able to breath.

As if in response to her unspoken query, the demon-lord shook his head. "A human cannot remain in the Meidou for long without dying. Although in your case, the Shikon no Tama seems to be keeping you alive."

Kagome nodded weakly. Of course, the Jewel would keep her healthy. If she died, while it was lost in the depths of the darkness, then the Shikon would be lost to time as well. Their lives were inextricably bound together, just like they had always been.

"I assume by your presence," remarked the miko far more calmly than she felt, "That you have a plan?"

Drawing the Tessaiga by way of a reply, Sesshoumaru pulled her close to his chest and swung the blade to create a portal back to the Earth using the Meidou.

But to his shock, nothing happened. It wasn't simply that the barrier on the blade had rejected him; this was only enough to burn his hands, not to prevent him from using the sword altogether. Instead, it was …

Oh. Right. Now, he remembered.

The last time that he had used the Meidou Zangetsuha to escape from Hell, he had already been standing _inside of it_. The Meidou represented a pathway into Hell, but where they stood now was a void, technically the space between worlds. To use the technique, it seemed, one had to be standing either on Earth or in the underworld. But a portal could not open to _another_ world, until the sword ascertained which world one stood inside initially.

He told as much to the miko, who did not take the news very well.

"What does that mean? We both stay here, then?" she worried, before adding in a snide voice, "In that case, may I go back to sleep? I was having a most pleasant dream."

"A false dream of reality," the taiyoukai added in a cautionary tone.

"Spoilsport," rejoined the miko.

The Shikon no Tama pulsed in the background, as though to remind them it had a role to play in this story. With a mere wish, they could be happily on their way. Deciding she had finally had enough out of the Jewel, Kagome gave it the finger.

With trusting blue eyes, the miko gazed up at the demon beside her. "So, what should we do?"

And for once, Sesshoumaru was completely at a loss. There was no way back to Earth from here. They would have to proceed to the gates of Hell, _then _form a portal and step through it. But the moment the miko set foot in the underworld, she would die. Which was exactly the outcome he had been trying to avoid…

How discouraging.

"Before you came," added Kagome helpfully, "I had been about to wish for the Jewel to disappear. But I wasn't certain what would happen to me. I think it would work, because the Shikon no Tama was afraid to allow that result, but it might kill me to make that wish. Perhaps for no other reason than the Shikon no Tama would become a little spiteful while it disintegrates."

In that case, the taiyoukai surmised silently, their options were simple. The miko could wish to destroy the Jewel, which would do a great deal of good for the world, but very little good for her. Or they could proceed, he could watch her die in the underworld, open a portal using the Meidou Zangetsuha, drag her body back through the portal, and quickly resurrect her with the Sword of Heaven.

Both options seemed to involve an unsavory amount of death on the miko's part.

The taiyoukai frowned, motioning for her to grab the Jewel. Either way, it was best not to leave it here, where heaven only knew what kind of creatures might happen upon it. The miko obediently held the shaft of her arrow away from her body, never allowing the stone to touch her torso.

"Unfortunately," he intoned darkly, "We must press onward, before we may turn back."

"That seems counter-intuitive," said the miko, "But okay. Any place is better than here."

All too soon, she would learn she was wrong.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As they sank through the darkness, it began to thicken, and Sesshoumaru could once again make out the scent of the Land of the Dead. The odor was unforgettable. And to think, Rin had smelled this way once. To humans, the scent marked nothing but decay. To a dog-demon's sensitive nose, the scent of death was overlaid with pain, despair, hatred, sadness and anger – a medley of intense emotions and an agonizing loss of hope. It was the worst thing he ever had the displeasure of sensing.

Yet here he was, preparing to enter Hell for a second time.

A road appeared beneath their feet, and Sesshoumaru landed gingerly, automatically drawing the Tenseiga. The priestess watched him carefully, judging by his tense expression that this environment was dangerous. But this time, there were no monsters to greet him, only an empty road meandering through the darkness.

Standing on the pathway, the taiyoukai attempted to use Tessaiga again. And again, the Meidou Zangetsuha would not open a portal for them to return home. Sesshoumaru ground his teeth together in frustration. Why would it not work? This was unbelievable. Stupid sword. Did he actually have to stand _inside_ the Land of the Dead to utilize this technique?

A sinister chuckle coughed in the gloom. Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru whirled about to face the intruder. "An interesting item you hold, holy one. So many souls, compressed into one piece."

"Please tell me these demons don't want to steal the Shikon no Tama too," muttered the priestess. Really, what was it with the Jewel's habit of attracting evil toward it. She could do with a break every now and then!

"No, no. Here, there are souls aplenty," came the calm response. A giant hound loomed in the darkness, to one side of the pathway. It appeared to be walking in thin-air, but Kagome wasn't willing to question whatever substances actually formed the ground down here.

The dog-demon was easily twice as large as Sesshoumaru in his natural form, and it was as black as the night around them. But its chest and legs had a lining of slate-gray fur, and by observing this, Kagome could see the beast approaching. It appeared to have no eyes, only smooth black skin over where the eyes should be.

"Before me is a scent I have sensed before," the creature commented, its snout pointed at Sesshoumaru's chest. "The one that got away. Why has it returned, I wonder?"

Pushing Kagome behind his back, and dual-wielding his Father's twin swords, the taiyoukai faced the beast. "We seek to return to the land of the living. Do not try and stop us."

The black-demon tilted its head to one side, in a very dog-like fashion. Finally, it sat down in the blackness beside the road, its haunches fading into the background. "The hounds of hell have no quarrel with the living. We exist only to send deceased souls on the right track through the darkness. Since neither one of you have died, do what you like."

The tension in Sesshoumaru's shoulders did not ease, but he relaxed his arms, allowing the swords to fall at his sides. Then, when it became clear that the hellhound truly did not intend to attack, he turned toward Kagome once more. One sword remained black in his hand, while the other glimmered a pearlescent white.

"The Meidou Zangetsuha is not … fully functional at this time," he explained to her slowly, feeling guilt welling within his chest. After all, this rescue operation had been his idea in the first place. "It is this Sesshoumaru's belief that we must stand in a single world before it can be used, not between worlds, as we are now."

"Okay, sure." The miko nodded agreeably, "Where to?"

The sinking feeling in Sesshoumaru's chest intensified, as he saw how readily she trusted him. Wasn't he supposed to be the expert on this sort of subject? In truth, he had no more idea what to do in this situation than the next person. Last time he had been here, he had carried himself through his trials by sheer determination and perseverance.

"Once inside the underworld, it is possible that you may die," he stated flatly, avoiding her gaze.

"Wha-?"

"However," he added quickly, "It is also possible that the Shikon no Tama may continue to sustain your life-force there, for long enough that I can take us home." And really, the situation could go either way. Rin had died in the underworld, but Kohaku had been sustained by the Shikon shard under his skin.

"Um…"

Overall, the idea sounded horrible to Kagome. But then, she also had no other choices. She certainly did not want to remain here. And it was quite possible that when she wished for the Jewel to disappear that she would vanish with it.

"Where will that leave me?" she mused aloud. Then, the priestess mumbled unhappily. "Even if you bring me back, I will still have to deal with the Shikon no Tama. I only have two choices – I can wish to destroy it, and disappear myself, or I can submit to carrying it around and defending it for the rest of my life…"

"_There is another way_," a third voice whispered to one side, causing the tiny priestess to flinch and Sesshoumaru to pivot in place, holding out the Tenseiga. A second hellhound had joined the first, but this one was more insubstantial. It looked like grey mist had coalesced into the form of a dog, but clouds of the mist still wafted away from the sides of the dog-demon every so often.

"_More choices than simply 'hold' or 'destroy,' _" hissed the second beast, its voice as ethereal as its body, drifting in and out of their ears like a fog. "_In this place, souls are recycled. And in your hand, a collection of souls._"

"Yes," confirmed the first hellhound. "That is true."

Sesshoumaru growled low in his throat. He did not trust these creatures. "Conversational today, aren't we?" he snarled, angrily. "I do not recall such kindly behavior from your type, the last time we met."

Even as he spoke, his aura spiked, and Kagome detected other figures gathering around them in the gloom. How many hellhounds were there? The back of her mind itched to know how the Lord of the Western Lands had found himself in this situation before, but escaped it. That would have made an excellent fireside chat…

A third and a fourth hellhound materialized beside the pathway of stone, and her companion's agitation increased. Feeling him tense for an onslaught, Kagome called to the first hound that had spoken to them. It seemed like the nicest one, so far. "Why would you tell us these things?" she asked politely. "And what does it mean exactly, to recycle souls?"

The black one sniffed the air in her direction. Apparently satisfied with what it found, the first beast explained. "Our kind send deceased souls on the right track through the darkness," it said, repeating what it had said once earlier. "We begin the chase. The last time _that one _was here, he broke the laws, stealing a dead soul away with him. So, we fought. But this time, there is no need. Neither of you are dead."

With the canine equivalent of a shrug, it deferred the rest of the explanation for its second companion, the misty-looking hellhound. Despite having no eyes to see with, the second hound's invisible gaze seemed to burn right into Kagome's mind. Slowly creeping forward, it inhaled a deep draught of air around her form. "_Old souls in your hand_," it breathed. "_Some have avoided death for a millennium or more. But the cycle must not be broken. Follow the pathway to its end_."

With this, the hellhounds silently swept away, leaving behind a startled priestess and a confused taiyoukai.


	3. Lands of the Dead

Author's Note: If you're still reading, then I suppose you don't care about the spoilers. But just for good measure – this section includes –**SPOILERS FOR MANGA CHAPTERS 467 - 470**.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 3: Lands of the Dead**

"What does that mean?" asked the priestess, biting her lower lip. Staring at the Shikon no Tama, she mentally reviewed the instructions they had been given. The hellhound that looked like mist and fog had informed her that there was a third option. Instead of carrying the Jewel around for her entire life, or making a 'pure wish' to destroy it (which might potentially destroy her in the process), the hellhound had mentioned they could recycle the souls in the Jewel. All they had to do was follow the pathway to its end.

Glancing up at the taiyoukai beside her, she saw the same puzzlement etched on his features. "Does that mean the Shikon no Tama can be reincarnated, just like any other collection of souls?"

Then, scratching her head, she realized it made sense, in a twisted sort of way. In fact, the Shikon no Tama had already been reincarnated, once before. When Kikyou died, she had 'carried' the stone with her through the afterlife. And because Kagome was Kikyou's reincarnation, when she had been born, the Jewel had been reborn inside of her.

But she didn't want to allow the Jewel to be _reborn_ – she wanted to erase it from the Earth. In her eyes, the Shikon no Tama had already caused enough trouble. Sealing it, shattering it, or otherwise delaying its evil effects for another generation to deal with, these things were not enough. Kagome intended to rid the world of it for good.

"The beast did not say 'reincarnate' – it said that souls can be 'recycled' in this place," mused the taiyoukai.

"Right," the priestess nodded, "Aren't those the same thing?"

Neither of them had any answer to that. But the long stone pathway beneath their feet led only one direction. Toward the gates of Hell. And because the Meidou Zangetsuha, contained in his half-brother's sword, was still not functioning properly, they would have to proceed for now.

Without a sound, Sesshoumaru's booted feet turned toward the end of the path and began to walk. As he moved, the white-haired taiyoukai periodically swung the Tessaiga, testing whether the Meidou had started working again. He didn't want to spend a second more in this world than he absolutely had to.

The priestess's leather loafers steadily clumped ever closer. When she had drawn alongside him, Kagome asked the one question on both of their minds. "So, how close to Hell do we actually have to be, before the portal opens?"

He did not reply.

Then, with a crack, the ground began to tremor and shake. Behind them, a large section of the road crumbled away, and the miko shrieked in terror, gripping at his sleeve. Seconds after the boulders dropped into the impenetrable darkness on either side of the road, he heard a splashing noise deep below his feet.

"Um…" the miko mumbled, "Is that normal?"

"Yes," he answered grimly. The road to Hell had behaved in a similar fashion, the last time he was here. Back then, he had been running for Rin's life, chased by a number of monsters from the afterworld. But apparently, whether he was fighting fate or not, the stone pathway dissolved behind them.

There was no going back.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Highly unusual_, thought the taiyoukai. _I don't remember this at all. _

After walking for what seemed like forever, the unlikely pair had arrived at a fork in the road. Two divergent pathways spread out from a single point. A few feet beyond the divide, a black curtain-like barrier draped over the road, so no one could see what lay down the two separate paths.

The miko was holding on to his tail again. Sesshoumaru had thought about saying something to her, but her tiny human heart was beating as fast as a rabbit's, and in the end, he didn't want to alarm her further. If holding on to the tip of his tail comforted her, then he would allow it. For now.

After all, he had tacitly given her permission to do this, back when Naraku fought his last stand. In the final battle against Naraku, at one point Sesshoumaru had _instructed_ the miko to hold onto his tail, so he could fly her out of harm's way. The fact that she seemed to consider this a _permanent_ indulgence was unfortunate, but something easily dealt with later. For the moment, he was feeling a little bit freaked out too.

The road into Hell was not supposed to split…. What did this mean?

"Is the Meidou working yet?" the miko asked hopefully.

Sesshoumaru shook his head. Stupid technique stolen by the sword of his stupid half-brother. Perhaps Inuyasha had bewitched the Tessaiga, so that it would no longer work for him? But no, his half-brother had never been so crafty and subtle.

"This Sesshoumaru believes that it will work," he continued warily, "Once we are beyond the barrier."

"Right. At which point, I might die," she summarized, "Or the Shikon no Tama _might _decide to sustain my life."

With a sigh, the miko plopped her body down at the side of the road, swinging her feet over the edge into the blackness beyond. She glared at the fork in the road, as if daring it to reveal its secrets. None of the options open to her seemed very palatable. But her entire life had been a series of worsening disasters, ever since she fell into the past through an old shrine well. So what else was new?

Perhaps this represented the choice she had to make. To destroy the Shikon no Tama with a wish, or take the longer, harder road and unmake the Jewel, recycling each of its component parts into the afterlife. One would erase the souls in the Jewel from existence. The other choice would allow them to be reincarnated, as part of the natural cycle of life. Both options would probably take her life.

"Aw, shucks," she pouted then, "I just realized something!" Turning to look at the taiyoukai with a wan smile, she continued, "This means I never actually called you onii-san!"

Sesshoumaru seemed startled by her non-sequitur comment. "Why would you call me big-brother?" he asked, helpless to avoid the question.

"It was part of the dream I had," she answered, "When the Shikon no Tama entrapped my mind. I dreamt that I called you big-brother, to see what you would do."

"And how," intoned the taiyoukai darkly, "Did this Sesshoumaru respond?"

"Well…" Kagome replied, mischief sparkling in her eyes, "Actually, you seemed more upset in the dream than you do right now. Does that mean you don't mind?"

There was no suitable response, so he did not deign to give one. Instead, the white-haired dog-demon stood at her side, facing the black barrier that marked the entry into the underworld. To the best of his knowledge, the road into Hell was different for every person. He had come here before, following after Rin, and the pathway that first formed for himself, Kohaku and Rin had changed, once Rin broke away from the group. Trailing her scent, he had stepped out into the void, and a second road – Rin's path into the afterlife – had formed beneath his feet.

At the moment, Sesshoumaru had only one goal. To accompany the miko and rescue her if possible. Unlike him, she had a choice to make. That meant this fork on the pathway was probably for her to decide.

Looking at her face, he could tell she had come to the same conclusion.

Either way, he would have to follow her. He had given his pledge to Inuyasha; he would bring her home safely. Which meant that currently his destiny rested in the hands of a mortal human woman… How did he end up in these situations again?

"Whatever do you see in him?" the taiyoukai inquired disparagingly, delaying the inevitable decision a little while longer. "You would wed a hanyou, even if it meant you must have this Sesshoumaru for an in-law?"

She laughed, brightening the gloom around them for an instant. "Because he was the first boy I ever met," she answered in a similarly joking reply, "Who wasn't completely boring?"

"Hn. You have only known my half-brother for a year," Sesshoumaru stated. "I, on the other hand, have known him throughout his miserable existence."

"I've known him long enough to understand his faults and his strengths," she replied, unphased.

And as she spoke, the darkness seemed to sigh around them. With a crack, the ground to their left dissolved to dust. The priestess stood, and slowly, slowly, met his gaze.

"And one of those strengths is that he never takes the easy way out," finished Kagome, her tone somber and sad. "I won't either. There is too much that could go wrong, if I simply wished for the Shikon no Tama to disappear. I want to return the souls inside the Shikon no Tama to their natural state, allowing them to rejoin the flow of death and rebirth. At the moment, it's like Midoriko and the demons she fights are paralyzed in time."

Her stormy blue eyes pleaded with him for acceptance, and the taiyoukai found he could not deny the wisdom of her decision. No, the only part of her statement that struck him as incorrect was its beginning.

His half-brother was not the determined one. Inuyasha had never been strong or perseverant, until this priestess came along. Without her light to guide him, that once-gullible, hot-tempered boy would still have been pinned to a tree, allowing the world to pass him by.

She was the truly admirable one.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Oh god," she moaned again, holding her nose and covering her eyes. "Oh god, make it stop. The _smell_!"

Just as before, the first things to greet their eyes upon entering Hell were the human corpses. Miles upon miles of decaying bodies, stacked high, as far as the eye could see. Walking through it, holding Rin's dead body, remained the single most awful memory in Sesshoumaru's long life. And now, it was the most terrible experience in the miko's short existence, as well.

_Hn. What joy_, he thought. _Misery loves company. _

At least, she hadn't noticed the worst part yet. The true horror of this place was that the figures were not truly dead. These were _souls _– they could not die. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the corpses twitching as he passed, hands seeking to grasp the Tenseiga.

As a result, he kept the Sword of Heaven tightly sheathed at his side. He did not need another repeat of the last time he was here – when the souls of the fallen had attempted to take the Tenseiga away from him. They had been so pitiful, so weak, that their hands could not even lift it. Helpless to resist such misery and suffering, he had purified an entire field of dead souls, sending them immediately on their way to resurrection.

And although it technically had been a 'good' deed, it had taken a great deal out of him. The Lord of the Western Lands did not perform free favors for humans. Especially not for strangers, who would never remember his kindness in their next lives. In that moment, though, Sesshoumaru had been overwhelmed and sickened by pity. Despair, theirs and his own, had forced his hand. He could feel the sorrow even now, coiling around him like a physical touch. To a dog-demon, these fields smelled worse than death, for he could sense desperation and hopelessness too, crowding him, beating at his mind…

_I hate this place. _His mental mantra repeated, distracting him from the surroundings. _Hate it. Hate it. Hate it._

"Oh my god!" the miko squealed again, this time with a note of terror in her voice. "What is that thing? Is it… eating them? Oh, gross. Please tell me I'm still dreaming. This is a nightmare. I'm going to wake up in my warm, comfy bed…"

In the distance, a humanoid beast was lumbering amongst the piles of corpses, touching, adjusting, nibbling. It looked like a creature made of black moss, and like the hellhounds, it had no eyes. Without any light to see by, the native inhabitants of this world seemed to have no need for sight.

Surely though, this was all part of a natural process… The lurking, moss-covered man-beasts would consume the souls of the deceased, and this would free the souls of their mortal flesh, allowing them to move on… His mind did not want to wrap around the thought of what torture this place represented, otherwise.

The miko was still staring, her eyes wide and her mouth open, aghast. Sesshoumaru back-tracked briefly and touched her arm, when she did not follow.

"It's crunching on their bones," she said in a wobbly tone. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Pulling her forward, the taiyoukai forced her to continue. The pathway before them stretched out as far as their eyes could see in the darkness. There was no time to waste on other people, no matter how pitiful their plight.

A drop of water landed on the back of his hand, and Sesshoumaru looked back, curious. Did it rain in this place? There was no sky.

But the droplet on his skin smelled salty, and he realized two astonishing things simultaneously. The miko was crying, and he was still holding onto her shirt, pulling her forward. He quickly removed his hand.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes. "I seem to be doing this a lot, lately. It's just… I can hear them… in m-my mind… and they… and they are saying…"

Her feet began to leave the path, heading toward the nearest group of corpses. Quickly, Sesshoumaru restrained her, shaking the priestess until she met his eyes. Without a word, he reminded her this had been her choice.

They had to follow the pathway, not allow themselves to be diverted by pity.

Nevermind that he knew exactly how she felt, and his efforts had been similarly distracted when he was here last.

"But I could save them," whimpered the priestess in a tiny voice. "I can purify things, it's practically my job, they want me to do it. They're calling to me."

"And exhaust yourself in the process?" frowned the dog-demon. "There is more suffering here than one person can solve."

"One, then," she begged.

Finally, the taiyoukai nodded. It seemed like a very reasonable request. Her desire was no different than his had been, really.

Releasing her shirt, Sesshoumaru watched the priestess stumble to the side of the pathway and reach for the nearest form. Then, she tucked her hands under her arms unhappily. "How am I supposed to decide which one?"

Skeletal-shaped birds with leathery wings swooped overhead, screeching into the ink-colored gloom. The miko paced back and forth across the pathway, obviously berating herself over the fact that she could not save everyone in the world. Sesshoumaru had never seen anything more bizarre. He had heard of warriors being defeated by pride or conceit, but too much mercy? That was new. Yet the priestess seemed to have been overcome by exactly this dilemma.

After a while, she discovered the body of a small girl-child, near the side of the road. Sesshoumaru silently approved of her choice. But just before she touched the girl's corpse, Tenseiga leapt in its sheathe and began to rattle an urgent warning.

"Miko," he called out, a moment too late. "Wait!"

As Kagome activated her powers, something felt different inside of her. The light that had always come easily to her hands was sluggish to respond. It flowed like sticky syrup through her veins, instead of lightning, and her chest ached as her aura built.

In her hands, the Shikon no Tama pulsed once, as she purified the dead soul beside the road. Gasping, she recoiled and landed on her backside in the middle of the pathway. It hurt! Using her powers had never hurt before, so why now?

Immediately, Sesshoumaru was at her side, checking her for injuries. His touch calmed the pain in her chest. Gradually, she began to breathe normally again.

"Your life, right now, is attached to you by the power of the Shikon, like Kohaku's was," he summarized, based on what he had seen, "It seems that any magic you employ will be funneled through the Shikon no Tama as well."

She stared at her hands in disbelief. It was true, though – she had felt that too… The Shikon no Tama had greedily absorbed a portion of her powers, allowing her only a fraction of her full-strength to work with. Plus, it had tainted the small amount of power that it filtered through to her. That was why her magic had pained her. For a second, it had felt like her inner soul was being corrupted by the darkness of the Jewel.

On the bright side, however, the Shikon no Tama had become a slightly more purified color. Apparently, the touch of her powers had not left it unscathed.

"Well, that… sucks," Kagome stated grumpily. "I can't purify things without hurting myself too?"

"Indeed," the taiyoukai agreed mildly. "Let us hope that you do not have occasion to need your power."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"It's still following us," she commented, looking over one shoulder. The road behind them continued to crumble into bits, the moment they passed over it, but this no longer unnerved the miko so much. It was the soul that concerned her.

A floating soul trailed after her, always at a distance of approximately ten to fifteen feet. The glowing white orb had been following them since the priestess purified the little girl's soul back in the fields of the dead. Sesshoumaru found he didn't mind the company a bit – it reminded him of better days, when Rin would tag along at his ankles through flowering, colorful fields aboveground. Ah, but to be able to see a bit of color again! He had never understood Rin's obsession with picking flowers, but right now, he would have given his left arm (again) to be able to see the bright hues of a delicate flower-blossom.

"Why is it following us?" she asked.

"Ignore it."

"Oh, but you seemed so knowledgeable about our situation, earlier," commented the miko tartly. Exhaustion was wearing her temper thin. Clearly, they would have to stop soon. "I thought you had all the answers."

"Only those answers which Tenseiga sees fit to give me," Sesshoumaru admitted blandly. It had been the warning of the Sword of Heaven that he sought to heed, not his own personal intuition.

It was impossible to tell how many hours had passed since then. There was no dawn, because there was no sun in this place – only a grey mist that seemed to fill the landscape with an eerie white glow, at times. It seemed like they had been walking forever, and yet Sesshoumaru knew it was not true.

After all, the miko's stomach had only begun to growl a short while ago. Humans had to eat every day. Ergo, they had not been in the underworld for longer than one day.

His vision narrowed to the pathway in front of them, ever forming and receding through the mist and the inky blackness. Grey. Black. Dark-grey. Very, very black. Oh, what he wouldn't give for a bit of color in this scenery!

At last, the solution to his problem presented itself. Standing stock still in the middle of the road, Sesshoumaru waited for the miko to draw beside him. Then, he motioned for her to walk ahead of him.

Yes! That did the trick perfectly. Now, instead of the slate-grey road and the gloomy darkness beside it, he could see the vivid green of the woman's most interesting uniform. And _peach_ colored skin, and _brown_ shoes, and a _red_ neckscarf. It was glorious.

He didn't even mind that he was ogling a human woman. This was an emergency situation. And if her skirt happened to be very, very short, well then, that wasn't his fault, was it?

With a whoosh, the tiny light of the deceased girl's soul accelerated, catching up to the group. Apparently, it had finally overcome its fear of them. Bobbing up and down at the miko's side, it beckoned her attention.

"Huh?" the priestess asked, "What?"

The soul-orb quivered in mid-air.

"Oh, he's harmless," motioned the miko, waving one hand in Sesshoumaru's direction. "Don't worry about it."

Letting her insult slide, in favor of more important issues, the taiyoukai furrowed his brow and asked, "You can understand it?"

"Sure," she grinned in return, cheekily. "Can't you?"

Sesshoumaru glared back. No, he could not, thank the heavens. He did not want to be able to innately understand and sympathize with the souls of other beings. Especially not humans! He didn't. Not a bit. Not even when he was incredibly bored, wandering through the underworld, and missing Rin terribly.

"What does she say?" he inquired in a nonchalant fashion.

"Oh, it's a 'she' now, is it?" mocked the miko. "That's technically correct. I just didn't think you cared."

"Miko," the taiyoukai growled in warning. He had been mocked more in the last… eh… however long they had been walking… than ever in his life. Damn darkness, and its way of inspiring vexatious human women to new heights of boredom and vexatiousness.

"My name is Kagome," she reminded him, yet again. "And she's afraid of you, because you look like a youkai!" Laughing as though this was the funniest thing in the world, the priestess clutched at her sides.

Sesshoumaru did not grasp the joke. Of course, he was a youkai. Why should the soul of a human child be afraid of him in the afterlife, where it – she – had nothing more to lose?

Rin had never been afraid of him. That was one of his ward's best features.

With a well-concealed sigh, Sesshoumaru resumed his earlier pace and returned to watching the miko's healthy, peach-colored legs flash in the darkness.


	4. Path that Winds Forever

Author's Note: We're officially in Alternate Universe-land now. No more spoilers for a while.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 4: Path that Winds Forever**

They had finally surrendered to exhaustion, and he had used the Sword of Heaven to create a barrier that none of the creatures in this place could pass. Sinking the tip of the sword in the pathway, they had huddled in front of it, like the blade was a campfire. Then, resting his back against the Tenseiga, he had slept for a while, and now he watched the miko dream.

She had fallen asleep at last, huddled next to his side. Gradually, her head had burrowed further and further into his arm, and he had been forced to lean backward to prevent her from tipping over. Now, her breath was rustling the fur on his tail.

Breathe in, ruffle. Breathe out, puff.

It tickled terribly, but Sesshoumaru forced himself to be still. Only the white fur wrapped around his shoulder was allowed to shiver in the breeze that her breath created.

For a land with no sunrises, the place was unsurprisingly frigid. And because they had no blankets, and no way of starting a fire, there was no way to avoid snuggling for warmth. Even Sesshoumaru had grown cold on his left side, the side not draped in priestess.

The purified soul of the nameless, deceased girl was swirling in lazy circles over their heads. But Sesshoumaru preferred to watch the sensitive movements of the miko's eyes underneath her lids, while she dreamed. He wondered what humans lost in the darkness of Hell were apt to dream about…

At last, after what he guessed to be a full 'night' of sleep, he jostled the priestess – Kagome – awake. Bleary eyed, she blinked up at him and mumbled something incoherent. Stormy blue eyes had never looked so beautiful as when they were the _only_ point of blue in a sea of black surroundings. If he ever forgot what the sky looked like when filled with rainclouds, all he would have to do is look in her eyes, and he would remember.

As he waxed poetic in his mind, the Tenseiga vibrated at his back in a silent snicker. Sesshoumaru yanked it out of the ground and shoved it into its sheathe. It was too early in his 'day' to be mocked by weaponry.

"It is time to continue, miko."

She took an inordinately long time to wake up satisfactorily. But eventually, they were on their way once more. Not that the scenery looked any different today than yesterday.

"Oh, my stomach," moaned the priestess, clutching at her gut as it rumbled unhealthily. "If I die of starvation, then how exactly is the Shikon no Tama 'sustaining' my life-force?"

"The Jewel ensured that you did not die immediately," Sesshoumaru reminded her, "Upon setting foot in this place."

Her stomach rumbled again. It sounded like distant thunder, and the taiyoukai grit his teeth. There was no food to be found, however, she would simply have to survive. Somehow. Even though humans needed food every day, and even demons like himself needed water every week.

More and more, this trip seemed like a bad idea. The journey was unpleasant, and they had no way of knowing how long it would last.

But abruptly, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. After walking for several hours, the road finally disappeared through another black barrier, much like the one through which they had arrived. This, Sesshoumaru decided, could only bode well. Progress was defined as anything other than the sameness they had been traveling through for almost two days now.

Gladly, he stepped through the barrier. The miko quickly followed. They both held still in awe on the other side.

Stretching out as far as the eye could see was a prairie of sorts. The grass was insubstantial and light-grey, swaying in a non-existent wind. Periodically, vines seemed to stretch out from the stalks of grass and shoot into the air, only to land a few feet away, and the entire grassland seemed to shift like fog in a slow moving air-current. Overall, it was an exotic sight.

Even better was the air. Above, for the first time since they had entered the underworld, Sesshoumaru could see sky. The colors were inverted, however. Aboveground, clouds were white or stormy grey, but here, the nebulous mists that gathered in the atmosphere were pitch black, drifting across a stark white backdrop.

After being in the dark for so long, it hurt a bit to look at this bright landscape. They both stared at it anyway, drinking it into their senses. Finally, Kagome let out a little whooping noise at his side.

"This is great!" she squealed. "This means we're getting somewhere, right?"

Her enthusiasm was infectious, and a small smile formed on his face.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As the bright white sky began to turn grey and dim, Sesshoumaru smelled a village. At least, that was what he suspected it to be. The scents of many different beings gathered in one place. The aroma was very different than that of a human village or a horde of demons, however. It smelled like a myriad of shifting emotions, without bodies. According to his nose, nothing but a concentration of pure energy lay ahead.

The taiyoukai quickened his step, and the priestess caught up to him at the top of a hill. In the gently sloping valley ahead, they could see clusters of orbs surrounded by arcs of stone. The stone pathway that they had been following materialized as they watched, leading straight toward this alien-looking village.

"I guess that is our next stop," the dark-haired priestess noted.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru tried to calm the uneasy, upset feeling in his gut. Observing the pathway crystallize before their feet, the moment they crested a hill, was alarming. Until that time, the road had always known where they were going, and it had formed well in advance of their passage. But this time… the road's direction had seemed so sudden and arbitrary. What did it mean?

Without a word, he trudged down the hillside toward the buildings of stone and shadows. His discontent showed in his footsteps and his face, but for now, Sesshoumaru didn't care about blanketing his emotions. The problem of the shifting road eclipsed all other concerns.

"Do you think the last Inu-no-Taisho came this way," asked Kagome suddenly, seeing his tense stance, "When he traveled through the underworld?"

This caught his attention. Sesshoumaru weighed her words. The priestess was more observant than he had given her credit for, if she had figured out his Father's past exploits from so little evidence. But then, all the clues had been there. She knew that the Meidou Zangetsuha was a technique he borrowed from a creature of the netherworlds, and his Father had once used a sword named Sounga, possessed by the soul of a dragon from Hell… In the future, he would have to remember not to underestimate the woman's memory.

"Unlikely," the taiyoukai decided, "It is my opinion that each of us follow distinct pathways here."

"But he did journey through the Lands of the Dead?"

"Yes."

"Awesome!" the priestess crowed happily, "Now, you can say you've done it too!"

"Hn," remarked Sesshoumaru calmly, "It is not a competition."

Of course, this was not entirely true. He had struggled with his late Father's memory and legacy for a very long time. Recently though, the trappings of power had mattered less to him. And when he had finally given up on his desire to wield the Tessaiga, even the old swordsmith Totosai had claimed that he 'surpassed' his Father.

Then, it dawned on him. Sesshoumaru stared at his companion like she had abruptly turned into an octopus and squirted ink on him. By making such a comparison, the woman had been trying to cheer him up, hadn't she?

A delighted grin answered his unspoken question.

She _had_ been trying to lift his spirits. Yes, it was official. The miko was insane.

Unfortunately, he could not do the same for her. When she asked him if he thought there might be food in the village ahead, he denied it, snipping off her burgeoning hope at the bud. Despite the fact that he would have liked to agree, he simply could not.

They walked in silence the rest of the way.

Finally, the roadway led them into the cluster of shadowy orbs. As they entered the area, their surroundings became utterly silent. Even with his excellent hearing, Sesshoumaru could no longer detect the rustling sound of the fog on the prairie, or the beating wings of bone-birds in the sky. It was like the world was suspended between an inhale and an exhale, waiting to see what they would do next.

The shadowy orbs shifted and swayed, like images seen through the reflection on top of a lake. Empty archways held aloft a waterway, or at any rate, an aerial ditch that he guessed must be used to transport liquids. And even though he could smell the emotions of other creatures all around him, he could not see any motion or signs of life.

On the far side of the village of shadow orbs, Sesshoumaru's finally latched onto a solitary noise. With a whisper of sound, a black shape shot across the pathway. His head tracked this movement unconsciously, and he found himself staring at one of the denizens of the underworld.

It was a tiny creature, almost like a lizard-demon, but with solid black skin and rippling wings. Solid white eyes slanted up the sides of its face. "No!" a hissing whisper came, and a larger figure raced after the smaller one. "Come back!"

When the larger figure realized Sesshoumaru was staring at it, the creature quivered and fell away from the road. The smell of fear and anxiety in the area increased. But the smaller figure just moved closer to the road.

Once it was less than an inch away from the stone pathway, the tiny creature chirped at Sesshoumaru, and he realized to his surprise, that it had a high-pitched childlike voice, sounding like a baby-lizard. "You're from another world, aren't you?"

Kagome positively melted at the sound and stepped forward, kneeling at the side of the road. "Yes," she smiled, "How did you know?"

The creature's wings fluttered, and it tilted one white eye toward the pathway on which they stood. "I'm not scared of you," added the tiny lizard-like beast, proudly. "Not afraid of rocks either_._"

Grinning at the little black one's bravery, the priestess continued, "You know we're from another world, because of the pathway?"

It squeaked, in what Sesshoumaru could only guess meant agreement. In the background, the larger black figure began to edge forward slowly. The child's white, pupil-less eyes met his briefly, then returned to the miko, who had proven to be the better conversationalist.

"Shi-Mahgyudi says when you die you step onto the path that winds forever," it continued in an obviously intrigued tone. It was so close to the pathway now that Sesshoumaru could have darted out and grabbed the tiny black creature by the neck. "How is it?"

Wide-eyed, Kagome stared at her inquisitor in puzzlement. "To die?" she asked next, "Well, actually…"

"No! No!" it squeaked, wings fluttering again. "To move on solid ground!"

But Kagome never had the time to answer, because right then, the larger figure darted forward and removed the small one from the roadside. "Apologies," it hissed, backing away, "He is young… Please forgive… Please…"

Soon, they were alone once more. Now that he knew what to listen for, Sesshoumaru could barely make out the whispering of shadows as the black-demons moved. The fear he could sense in the air increased, as the day faded.

The miko sent him a bewildered gaze, speechlessly asking what had just happened, but the taiyoukai merely shook his head. There was no time to waste, he wanted to be out of this eerie village by nightfall. It was not simply the fact that the villagers were afraid of him; if this were the only problem, then he would simply imagine these native demons were like human villagers aboveground. Sesshoumaru was used to inspiring fear in people. But he did not usually like what he could not understand. Why were these denizens of the underworld so timid? The easy answer would have been that they sensed the fact that he carried a dangerous sword, or that they detected the miko's holy aura. But the answer was not so simple – it was the _road_ the others feared…

Feeling the same unsettled emotion he had at the top of the hill, upon seeing the pathway coalesce, Sesshoumaru straightened his spine and forged ahead. "Come. We do not want to stop here for the night."

"Aw!" whined the priestess. "But I was hoping to ask them for foooood…."

"We have discussed this, miko," intoned the taiyoukai dangerously. Every one of the stories he had read or heard on this subject agreed. "There is no sustenance safe for a mortal in this place."

"But I'm huuungry!" she wailed even louder, with a pout.

Sesshoumaru stifled a sigh and dragged her away from the village by force. Honestly though, if they could not find food by tomorrow, what were they going to do? This could not continue indefinitely.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

They settled for the evening on the edge of an empty field, and Sesshoumaru erected a similar barrier to the one he had used the night before. Although it was not as cold in this area as it had been in the fields of the dead, where light did not seem to exist, the regal taiyoukai found himself in a familiar situation. Once again, he was allowing a priestess to cuddle next to his side.

The priestess was a bundle of energy. Tucking her hands around her knees, she leaned into his side and pointed at the sky. "Look, there's another one! What do you think they are?"

There were no stars overhead, but periodically, a glowing ball of light would streak from one edge of the horizon to the other, traveling in the same direction that they were going. It was an interesting night-time display, and the miko seemed to think it was beautiful. Soul-catchers, the same kind of youkai that had traveled with the undead priestess his half-brother once loved, traversed the prairie at a lower level.

He had seen these reptilian soul-collectors on Earth, but there, the creatures had been a rarity. This environment seemed to be their native land. Glowing snake-like bodies writhed across the fog-like grasses, in pursuit of any stray orbs that fell from the sky.

Hence, he had an answer to her question, even prior to her asking it. "Souls," replied the white-haired demon blandly, as though the concept had been obvious. "They are escaping from the black barrier of the Land of the Dead."

Dark-hair rustled against his shoulder. "How do you know that?" she said incredulously.

Sesshoumaru motioned toward the soul-collectors on the grassland. "Shinidamachu," he replied, "Eat souls. Every so often one falls from the sky, you'll see."

"Hmm…" Although her tone remained indecisive, she knew he was correct. It unnerved her. This place seemed very inhospitable toward the human souls it claimed to recycle. Perhaps this was how to recycle a soul, then? She had to feed it to a soul-catcher? The part-insect, part-reptilian creatures still creeped her out, however. The soul-gatherers always reminded her of Kikyou, in her undead state, back when her predecessor had needed to gather souls to stay alive.

It would be too easy to feed the Shikon no Tama to a shinidamachu. Surely, that was not the solution to all her problems. But she had been discouraged by the shadow-child in the village of archways and orbs. Earlier, she had been told, albeit indirectly, that this pathway continued forever. Just like on the Earth, a person could not travel one road and eventually arrive at the end of the world. The Earth was round, and a traveler would circle back someday, repeating his tracks. Of course, that was assuming that one person could actually journey all the way around the Earth, something Kagome found unlikely to be done on foot.

Still, they had been told to follow the pathway to its end. And this seemed to have a very literal meaning. For the time being, Kagome was determined to do so.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru had also been alarmed by the shadow-child's words. But in his case, his unease focused on their potential danger. The pathway was like a beacon, signaling to anyone and everyong that foreigners were passing through. While it might be possible to miss a priestess and a taiyoukai traveling incognito through the underworld, it would be terribly hard to miss a stone path, miles long, forming out of midair and crossing the land.

Then, Kagome was snuggling into his fur again, distracting his train of thought. Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. It really did tickle, when she breathed onto his tail. Wrapping the end of his tail around her legs, Sesshoumaru hoisted her onto his lap, where he could better monitor her breathing and keep her from rubbing his fur the wrong way.

Or at least, that was the excuse that he gave himself in order to enjoy her company.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The landscape gradually began to light, and Kagome grew excited at the idea there might be a dawn. She would be possibly the first mortal to know what such an event looked like. White soul orbs were still escaping from the barrier periodically, rocketing like shooting stars over the countryside, but as the sky lightened it became harder and harder to see them against the white backdrop of the air.

Today was a cloudless day, it seemed. No black fog swirled overhead, only bright pale air. She wondered briefly where the light emanated from, since there was no sun, but in the end, she had more pressing matters of concern. For example – her stomach was growling again. It felt like a wild animal had crawled into her chest and started clawing its way through the lining of her gut, that was how hungry she remained at the moment.

"Ne, Sesshoumaru?" she murmured, brushing off her clothes and trying to flatten her hair. "I was thinking, maybe we should follow the souls, not the pathway. After all, we're trying to find the point from which souls are reincarnated. What do you think?"

The taiyoukai frowned. "This Sesshoumaru believes the road has not led us astray so far," he answered. "It would be a shame to abandon the cause now, after so many days of trying to accomplish it."

"Yes, but… yesterday, that thing said the pathway has no end," worried the priestess, "What if we are just wasting time?"

Brow furrowed in concentration, the Lord of the Western Lands slowly digested this fact. She had a valid point. And yet, this entire journey had been her idea in the first place.

Then, the memory of the roadway forming as they crested a hill, on the day before, entered his mind. Suddenly, he identified exactly what had bothered him so much about that experience. The road had not taken shape until the pair of them chose their next destination, such as the village in the valley. And that meant… in the end, the one who determined the direction of the pathway was the priestess, all along.

A chilling thought, to be certain. Perhaps they really were just wasting time. Or perhaps by visiting these places and seeing these things, it would somehow inspire her to destroy the Shikon no Tama. There was no way to know, in advance, what might represent important information or essential places to see.

"The choice is yours, miko." He would simply tag along, ensure she met with no harm, and when – if – she admitted failure, he would gladly rip a hole in the landscape using the Meidou Zangetsuha and return them to their homeland.

She gulped as if this was too much responsibility to be laid on one pair of shoulders. Eventually though, she nodded and a tentative smile returned to her face. "Well, then. It's a good thing we seem to have brought a soul with us," she announced. "Because it would be too hard to track the other soul-orbs in the daytime sky."

"What do you say," asked the miko next, turning to the tiny, purified soul that hovered over her head. "Will you lead us in the direction all the other souls are going?"

It must have agreed with her idea, because the girl's soul floated off toward the horizon. Kagome fell into step behind it, and Sesshoumaru meandered along the road at her side, unwilling to fall behind but unable to properly lead.

And lo and behold, the direction the soul set off was in the same direction the road was traveling, thus reinforcing Sesshoumaru's theory about the pathway and its ability to take shape in accordance with their own wishes.

If he thought he had been crazy earlier, following an overly sympathetic and dutiful priestess through Hell, then he _knew _he was absolutely insane now, chasing the soul of an unknown human-child to destinations unknown.

Either way, the trip could not go on much longer. Observing the dark circles underneath her eyes and the way her legs labored to keep up the pace, Sesshoumaru wondered what would happen if the priestess died in this place. Not that he would let the situation come to that. It was simply…

If only he could find her something to eat…


	5. Bond of Blood

Author's Note: Thanks for all your reviews! I knew the story would not get much attention, but a few faithful reviewers give feedback. Thanks!

This chapter is **dedicated to Jjvalour**, who inspired me to use the word 'cannibalism' in my story. : )

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 5: Bond of Blood**

If there was one thing Kagome disliked about this place (and there were many things she disliked, but if she only could name one), then it was the way the land constantly shifted around them. For instance, she would see a dead tree trunk with scraggly, ivory branches thrusting upward into the chilly air, and then moments later, she would see the same tree on the opposite side of the road. Objects would move about without warning. For a human who was used to depending upon landmarks and signs for directions, this was disconcerting. She would wonder if they were going the right direction, or if she was simply loosing her mind.

Objects were not the only things to wander, the environment itself was constantly transforming. At first, it would seem like she was traveling uphill, but behind her, the ground would be flat and even. Or she would think she walked on a flat surface, but looking back, she would see a hillside rising behind them. Truly aggravating.

Sesshoumaru traveled with Tenseiga unsheathed all the time now, and she wondered what he had sensed that placed him on high-alert. Indeed, the farther they walked, the brighter the Sword of Heaven glowed, likely a sign of trouble to come. But Kagome dared not ask what he thought would happen.

In fact, she was too tired and hungry and cold to ask much of anything at all. After hours of uphill travel, the ashen prairie had eventually given way to gently sloping obsidian. It looked like they were traveling through the foothills of a dark mountain range formed out of opaque glass. Of course, she had no way of gauging how far they'd journeyed, since the inclines at her back tended to disappear or move at random.

In the distance, she saw obsidian mountains shining under the stark white sky with a mirror-like sheen. At the peak of each mountain-top, black clouds gathered and poured over the countryside. It looked like a negative image of a black and white photograph of the Himalayas.

Exhausted, Kagome crossed her arms and shivered. Something about being sleepy always made her cold. In addition, this place was frigid. It was almost enough to make her wish for warmer clothing, except that she could not take wishes for granted while holding the Shikon no Tama.

And that was another worrisome topic. The Jewel of Four Souls had grown darker each day, since they left the barrier that marked the Land of the Dead. Whatever she had done to brighten it, their trip had undone. It had completely lost its pearlescent shine, darkening as if in tune with her mood.

Lowering her head to her chest, she rubbed her arms for warmth and took a deep breath. _Stay focused, stay calm_, she thought to herself, _Don't make wishes on the Shikon no Tama, you can do this alone_!

But then, the sinister words of the shadow-child whispered through her mind once more. The path that winds forever… What if there was no end to this journey?

Unexpectedly, the road rushed up to greet her, and Kagome threw up her hands to block her fall. Stumbling with fatigue, she had tripped over her own feet. Argh! Someday, perhaps she could write a book – 101 ways to make yourself look like an idiot in front of a demon-lord. Not that Sesshoumaru failed to notice that she was clumsy. The whole world knew that already. Blast it all.

Maybe she could blame this on the pathway? An imaginary stone had tripped her! Yes…

A stinging sensation in her knee distracted her. Wincing, Kagome realized a thin trickle of blood ran from a scrape on her knee. Her shin also looked like a disaster, although it had no open wound. Still, it would surely bruise.

"The essence of a journey is travel, not rest," noted her infuriating companion, "The end of the road will not come to you."

Fire abruptly blazed through her. She was doing her best! How dare he criticize her for _tripping_?!

"Hey!" growled Kagome, accurately imitating a small, irate dog and surprising Sesshoumaru to no end, "I'm bleeding, here! Have you no eyes? If I need a moment to recover, then I can have one."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

All morning, Sesshoumaru had detected eyes upon them, tracking their every move. Perhaps it was paranoid, but he stayed armed and ready, the Tenseiga in hand. Better to be prepared, than not.

However, the threat he sensed never materialized, and eventually, the taiyoukai realized he was exhausting himself for no reason. Beside him, the miko was also growing weaker and more debilitated by fatigue. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept watch of her condition, displeased by her worsening state of health. As they followed their tiny spiritual guide, he could hear her steps gradually slow and stumble. Each breath she drew, shuddering from the cold, grated against his ears.

An image of Rin with sunken cheeks and dirt smeared over her face, as she smiled for him in the forest, embittered his heart. He had not been able to save Rin in time either – not the first time she died, and not the second. The miko's plight was depressing him, making him think of his past failures, and how history had a way of repeating itself.

Strange, but he did not _want_ the priestess to die. It was more than an issue of his honor, at this point, or the fact that he had pledged to Inuyasha that he would help her. As he beheld her struggle with hunger and cold, he realized that he desired the best for her, and he did not like to watch her suffer.

After all, this was the same girl that had bravely brandished arrows in his direction. A girl that threw away her life to fight alongside his half-brother and to defend a Jewel of dubious value. Yet despite all the misfortune that fate had heaped upon her, the priestess did not hate youkai. She had even taken in a fox-demon kit, like Sesshoumaru had rescued a small human child. For her determination and willingness to wholeheartedly look after her followers, in the priestess, Sesshoumaru saw a semblance of himself. And he not only respected her for it, he _liked_ her.

The moment he faced forward again, she tripped, crumbling to the ground as though his mental support was all that had kept her standing. Sesshoumaru flinched and returned to her side. Soon, he smelled the wound on her knee, and all the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. If he could sense this, then their amorphous, invisible watcher might do so as well. Not good, not good.

Attempting to revitalize her, Sesshoumaru encouraged her to stand, but his comment backfired horribly, and the miko stayed seated. Apparently, he was not very talented at reassuring people. Most of the time, he needed to scare people or bargain with them, so while he became very skilled at these things, he had never learned how to comfort.

He reached out and touched the miko's shoulder, but a tingle of cold was all he felt. It seemed like she was fading away before his very eyes. A pitiful whine began to build in the back of his throat, but Sesshoumaru refused to release it.

Why wasn't the Shikon no Tama healing her wound? At first, he had assumed that even a dying man would grasp at a few more minutes of life – hence, the Jewel was likely to support her life, despite the fact she was traveling to destroy it. But lately, the stone seemed to be doing her no good. Her health had literally plummeted today.

Pacing uneasily across the short width of the stone pathway, the dog-demon finally came to a decision.

There was _one_ method by which he might lend her strength. As unpalatable as the idea might be, he could not simply watch her starve or freeze to death before his very eyes. His inner beast could not stand her pain.

So, what could he do to assist her? Being in the underworld drained his energy too, but not as quickly as hers. At a cost, he could impart her with some of his strength and stamina. The price for him to pay would be steep, but if this bolstered her health enough that they could finish their journey, then perhaps it would be worthwhile?

Yes, he could do this. He had enough youki to spare, he told himself. It would be difficult, but he could do it.

He erected a barrier and reinforced it with the Tenseiga, sinking the sword's tip into the pathway. Blue eyes gazed back at him.

"Are we stopping?" she mumbled, teeth chattering slightly. "That's good. I only need a moment, then I'll be okay again… I promise…" But even these words wore her out, causing her to pant for air.

Slowly, he sat down beside her. The priestess immediately retreated into his tail, burying her face in his fur, as though she was preparing for sleep. Praying that his mother would never learn of the fool's bargain he was about to make, Sesshoumaru raised her chin, forcing her to pay attention.

"There is a way this Sesshoumaru might confer a portion of his youki upon you," he began tentatively. "For youkai, spiritual power is tied to the blood."

"Huh?"

"Blood and strength are connected for demons," he added, "Thus, by taking some of this Sesshoumaru's blood, you might be able to gain some resistance to this place."

"Wait, you want me to…" the miko said, open-mouthed in surprise, "You want me to drink your blood? Eww! That's like… cannibalism!"

The white-haired dog-demon exhaled, disheartened by her reply, but he was unwilling to surrender a half-way-decent solution to their problem before testing it. "It would keep you from starving or tiring so easily."

Now, if he could only figure out a way to tell her the rest… But then, the side-effects of the transfer might not harm the priestess. After all, she was human. Sesshoumaru would be the one weakened by the blood-loss, not her.

In demon-culture, such an exchange of blood was always mutual. After all, why would any self-respecting youkai donate half of his (or her) power to another individual, without getting anything in return? Yet where humans were concerned, a return-transfer was impossible. Most humans had no spiritual power to donate, and even if a monk or priestess was involved, holy auras did not benefit a youkai at all.

"But eventually, even youkai have to eat too, right?" inquired Kagome, "This would only be a temporary fix?"

He nodded. In his mind, however, better to have a transitory solution, than no solution at all. Their surroundings held still as she considered his offer.

Finally, she agreed, although she continued to stare at him like he had developed magenta-hued hair. His Father's sword, Tenseiga, gave an approving pulse at his back, and Sesshoumaru grit his teeth. Yes, all right, fine – this sort of exchange only occurred between mates or life-long blood-brothers amongst youkai. But that didn't mean anything. He was doing this to preserve her health. Stupid sword, seeing signs of affection that weren't there!

"So what must I do?" she asked.

An itch developed under the skin next to his ear, and he scratched at it, trying to calm down. But no sooner did he start to relax, than the miko began to fidget, and his hands twitched nervously in response. He felt anxious and embarrassed, a combination he had never experienced until now. Of course, the situation was of his own making, so he really had no one to blame but himself for the embarrassment. It was not her fault that she did not know the value of what he was offering and the fact that it was usually a very personal ceremony.

"Hn," sighed the taiyoukai, "Sit beside me." Motioning for her to rest, facing him, with the side of her thigh touching his, he swept his hair away from his throat.

"You don't have to do this, if you don't want to," she said softly, noticing small signs of his distress. It did not take much of an emotional display to make it seem like Sesshoumaru was acting out of character. Although his face remained impassive, he was breathing more rapidly than normal and the taiyoukai had not looked her in the eyes for several minutes.

He did not meet her gaze now either. "Have you suddenly discovered a way to end this journey, within the day?" replied the dog-demon testily. Surprisingly though, her reassurance helped him regain his composure. Several times in the last few days he had noticed she had an innate way of doing that – motivating him or cheering him up, even when he could not return the favor. "No? Then, drink."

"How?" she frowned, pointing at her mouth. "I have dull teeth."

Oh, for heavens' sake. Did he need to do this part on her behalf as well? Yes, it seemed so.

Carefully, he shifted the collar of his kimono and drew a claw along the base of his neck, where his muscle connected to the clavicle. It itched intensely for a few moments, then quickly healed, as his injuries always did. The priestess sat frozen at his side, staring at the red line over his skin in disbelief.

"You'll have to move faster than that," he prodded her gently. "Demons heal rapidly."

Her heart rate only accelerated, and she wrung her hands in her lap. "I c-can't…" she whined. "That's… it's… disgusting!"

"An honor, you mean," growled the taiyoukai, frustration overtaking his embarrassment. Perhaps the woman didn't understand the full extent of the privileges he was allowing her, liberties he had never allowed anyone else, demoness or not, but that was no reason for her to _insult_ his generosity.

"Ah! I didn't mean to offend you!" she cried, as if in response to his internal thoughts. "Okay! I'll do it."

Putting one hand on his armored shoulder, she neared his side at the pace of a weary inch-worm. "Not a vampire… not a vampire…" he heard her mutter, and decided that he really didn't want to understand. When she was about a hand-span away from him, she blushed madly and toppled over backward rather ungracefully.

"I need to practice first!" the miko squeaked, flapping her hands in the air.

"Practice?!"

"Yes!"

More than ever, Sesshoumaru praised the fact that no one else was here to witness this. He had already suspected he was slightly insane for offering to bond himself to her, but clearly, her mind had fallen into a far worse state of disrepair. There was no such thing as a 'practice' blood-bond. One either was bound, or he wasn't.

With one hand, he rubbed the crescent moon on his forehead. Fine, she could practice first, whatever that meant. He was breaking all the rules already anyway, by even contemplating giving part of his life-force to a priestess. Besides, her puppy-eyed, pleading look was more than he could take.

Signaling his assent, he watched as the redness in her cheeks intensified. What was wrong now?

"You have to close your eyes first," she mumbled, squirming uncomfortably.

He stared incredulously. Close his eyes, to what purpose? Perhaps this was a normal custom for humans, when they entered each other's personal space? Most humans were intensely visual creatures.

The key was to seem unconcerned. Her nervousness and his anxiety fed off each other, in a vicious circle. Thus, for now, he would do as she asked, and soon they could have this over with.

Eyes closed, he rested his back against Tenseiga and willed himself to hold still. He heard her clothing rustle and felt a ghost of breath upon his cheek. Then, something soft and warm found the side of his neck.

Oh. Gods. Above. This was 'practicing'? She was sucking on the skin of his neck, where the skin dipped over his collarbone and met his throat.

He had never let anyone under his guard, this close to his throat, and Sesshoumaru was not used to intimacy. Thus, part of him was terrified, for someone to touch the vital veins on his neck, and she was doing it so casually, without a reason, just to school herself to be ready to do this _again_ in another few moments.

But the greater part of his mind had stalled on the sensation itself. It felt nice. More than nice. Marvelous. Definitely not an activity he would have thought of doing on his own, but now that the seed had been planted in his brain, the idea would endlessly torment him in the future. For instance, what did her neck taste like? The canine demon inside him, never far from the surface, uncoiled and purred, encouraging him to dig his fingers into her raven-black locks and find out.

However, before he had the chance, she pulled back, wide-eyed. "You didn't kill me," she murmured.

"That _would_ be counterproductive," intoned Sesshoumaru, breathing deeply and still not quite getting enough air. His voice sounded darker, more relaxed than normal. A cool patch of moisture on his skin reminded him what had happened, keeping him unnaturally focused on her face and form. At the moment, she seemed like the most fascinating creature in the entire world.

When Kagome made no move to come closer, he hooked two claws through the red kerchief at the front of her outfit and dragged her to sit by his side once more. Too much timidity was unbecoming. She had been plenty forward a few moments ago, and Sesshoumaru's instincts were rapidly concluding that he didn't really mind all that much, so why was she still acting shy now? All his earlier embarrassment had evaporated away… perhaps it had somehow been transferred to her…

"Se-Sesshoumaru," she stuttered, "Maybe this isn't such…"

He wound his fingers through her hair and used his other arm to entrap her by his side, tucking her head neatly beneath his chin. Her hair smelled like flowers and scented oil, and maybe a little bit like… Naraku… Gah. Okay, that bit he would ignore. The final fight had been rather messy, with toxic gas and exploding body parts in every direction, and none of them had ever gotten the chance to bathe, so it wasn't really her fault if she smelled like their fallen foe. But it did serve to make him wonder what her true scent would be like, unencumbered by battles or wearying travel.

He repeated his earlier steps and she lowered her head, heart beating faster. Since he had never traded blood with another youkai, he was unprepared for how the transfer might feel. Dizziness began to spread through his veins, and he felt light-headed, as if he had been falling through the air. He could feel his youki spreading beyond its boundaries, and taking root in a new host. Strangely though, he didn't feel any weaker. He had the same amount of energy as before, it was simply spread thin, balanced between the two of them.

If her startled gasp was anything to judge by, the priestess obviously felt the same connection. With a shudder, she fisted her hands in the front of his outfit and refused to release him. His skin healed over, but she bit his neck, as though she could not have enough. Sesshoumaru flinched. Despite the bluntness of her teeth, a nip like that still shocked him slightly. "Miko," he warned her, none too gently, pulling her away from his side, "That's enough."

With a glazed look in her eyes, she stared back. A dribble of blood leaked from one corner of her mouth. Sesshoumaru thought seriously about licking it off. After all, it would be a shame to waste it, and he had ever-so-recently been wondering about the flavor of her skin.

A moan escaped her, and the sound immediately grabbed and held his attention. Inside his chest a heart-warming fire had built up, melting his earlier resolve. Even now, he could feel his own blood spreading out through her system, slowly but surely. It felt like an out-of-body experience, yet at the same time, it felt comforting to know his strength could sustain her, like his inner beast had curled up into a playful ball, trapping her between his forelegs, protected and safe from the rest of the world. A myriad of confusing emotions swept through him, and he could see his feelings reflected on her face, as though she was drawing them out of him.

With a soft growl, he leaned forward and cleaned the side of her cheek, turning her head to face him. Her eyes widened even further and the blush staining her cheeks seemed almost permanent by this time. Rapidly losing a battle with common sense, he ran his left hand lightly down over her arm, claws snagging on her shirt, then nipped the line of her jaw, encouraging her to tilt her head. She inhaled sharply, and the fog over her eyes cleared.

"Um… Sesshoumaru," she whimpered slightly, "I think maybe the… what we did… is making you act… Stop. You're not yourself."

Golden eyes gazed heatedly back at her, and he had to forcibly drag himself away. Kagome sighed, partly in relief and partly in discontent. He could tell the difference, and silently noted her reaction. "Is that supposed to happen?" she asked.

"I would not know," the taiyoukai replied hazily, "This Sesshoumaru has never created a blood-bond before."

"Did it work?" she questioned next.

"Yes," he answered, still feeling the giddy aftereffects of loaning some of his blood to her. "Most likely."

This seemed to satisfy her, and she stood slowly, watching his face in awe. Neither one of them seemed to be able to think of anything to say. No surprise that youkai did not create such bonds often; it was very… distracting, to say the least.

The only sign of his inner turbulence was the iron-hard stiffness of that had seized his spine. When she had told him to stop what he was doing, and Sesshoumaru had _realized_ what he was doing, he had been bewildered. But perhaps the most bewildering part was that he had not felt unhappy with the situation – quite to the contrary. His heart was still racing from the thought of it.

But this woman – Kagome – was the last person in the world that he could allow himself to develop feeling toward. Even setting aside the fact that she was a short-lived human and a priestess to boot, she belonged to his half-brother. Inuyasha was the reason that he had come here to rescue her in the first place. So, what on Earth was he doing?

Blood-bonds would fade over time. Perhaps his emotional response to her would as well. And yet that idea annoyed him too. Apparently, he just could not be happy with the way things were.

Yanking the Tenseiga back out of the ground, he dispelled the barrier behind which they had been resting. But the moment he did, he knew his mistake. The sinister watcher that he had sensed on their trail, earlier in the day, had returned, and whatever it was, it was very, very close now.

If he had just revealed to an enemy his newest weakness - namely, a blood-bond to a priestess, leaving him at only half his usual strength – then they were both in a world of trouble.

Dark black mist began to gather around them. Sesshoumaru turned to her, noiselessly instructing her to remain close. Able to feel the threat in the air, she nodded and notched an arrow in her bow.


	6. Meltdown

Disclaimer: I did not invent the series Inuyasha, I only seek to impose logic (and perhaps a SessKag relationship) on the ending of the story.

Author's Note: Hopefully, the budding SessKag relationship doesn't seem too sudden or too cliché. Blood-bonds. Bah.

This time, we see Kagome's take on last chapter's events. Then, after a short cliffhanger, there is an extended battle scene, which refused to fit in this chapter. Does anyone out there love me and want to review, despite the cliffhangers?

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 6: Meltdown**

"Not a vampire," she muttered to herself under her breath, "Not a vampire…"

All through her childhood, Kagome had been vaguely alarmed by blood. Sometimes, when she skinned a knee or elbow, she almost passed out from the shock of seeing red liquid oozing from her skin. Naturally, a year in the feudal era fighting medieval monsters had done away with her squeamishness for the most part, but when Sesshoumaru suggested that she _drink_ his blood as part of some freaky youkai ritual, her childhood disgust and terror at the sight of blood had reasserted itself.

Putting one hand on the cool, spiked metal shoulder guard, she leaned closer to his armor, trying not to think too hard about what she was about to do. Tired, cold, and hungry, she knew she could not last many more days in the underworld without help, and if Sesshoumaru was willing to give that aid, then truly she should be grateful.

In the end, however, it was not the idea of blood that caused her to lose her nerve. Instead, when she had almost snuggled up next to his side and almost placed her lips on the side of his neck, suddenly Kagome had realized the _other_ half of why this idea was so alarming. At first, she had been worried about the procedure and the fact that it was gross. But now, embarrassment caught up to her. She was about to put her lips on his skin… that was like a kiss. No, it wasn't _like_ a kiss, it _was_ a kiss. That was the textbook definition of kissing. Lips on someone else's skin.

As soon as the notion struck her, she chickened out, removing her hand from his shoulder guard like it was on fire. This abrupt retreat caused her to fall over awkwardly. A heated blush crept its way over her face, and she frantically tried to remember if she had ever really, truly, actually kissed a boy before. The answer was decidedly 'no.'

The only time she had ever kissed a boy was the time Inuyasha fought Menomaru and lost himself in a demon-rage. In order to bring him back from the brink of madness, she had closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his, trusting that the symbolism of her gesture would get through to her deranged friend, even if no passion was there at the time. But that didn't count as a real kiss.

Perhaps this one did not either? After all, this was similar to the other one. This was an action that she needed to take for her health, not an action born of ardor or enthusiasm.

Still, the scenario seemed far more intimate than any situation in which she had found herself with Inuyasha. The hanyou had hugged her a few times (like before throwing her down a well…) but Inuyasha had never kissed her, or held her hand, or snuggled with her when it was cold, or…

Mortified, Kagome realized technically she had snuggled with Sesshoumaru every night so far, in this place. It had been terribly cold, so she had needed some extra warmth, and his fluffy white fur had seemed so inviting, and he hadn't acted like he minded when she buried herself in his tail… So, perhaps the circumstances called for it. But it was still more cuddling than she had ever done with Inuyasha.

Worst of all, she didn't feel the least little bit guilty. She simply felt embarrassed. What would Sesshoumaru think of a human-girl kissing his neck? Okay, so this entire fiasco was his idea, but perhaps she should verify he was actually okay with it, prior to taking his blood. What if he changed his mind, last minute, and reverted back to the ill-tempered demon she had once known, who hated humans and all things associated with them?

Not that she really believed that would happen… He had suggested this idea in the first place…

"I need to practice first!" she squeaked, self-conscious and flustered, waving one hand in the air and fanning her face to cool her cheeks.

"Practice?!" replied the dog-demon incredulously, staring at her like she had lost her senses.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that he seemed equally nervous about this endeavor. In fact, he seemed _more_ anxious than she did, since a subtle gesture like fidgeting or averting the eyes in Sesshoumaru practically screamed of his unease, when compared to his normal state of calm and control. She, Kagome Higurashi, the most dismally untrained priestess in all feudal Japan, had managed to unsettle a demon-lord, by her mere presence.

Reaffirming her need to practice, _first_, drink blood, _later_, thereby separating the two events and ensuring she did not spontaneously combust from embarrassment, Kagome scooted closer to the taiyoukai's side. The closer she crept to his side, though, the harder he stared, making her feel sheepish and flustered. What did that look mean? Did it mean he was angry about having to submit to such an indignity? But he told her to do this!

Argh! She would never be able to work up the nerve to kiss him, if he kept staring at her like that! Maybe it was making a mountain out of a mole-hill, but she found herself unable to complete her task.

"You have to close your eyes first," Kagome mumbled, fidgeting uncomfortably and wondering what her enigmatic companion was thinking at that moment.

He nonchalantly leaned against the Tenseiga, as if he did not have a care in the world, yet the tension in his posture belied his lackadaisical manner. The shortness of her breath reminded her she was not immune to the situation either. With his eyes closed, Kagome was able to see the delicate stripes above his eyes, seemingly painted onto his eyelids. The stripes on his cheeks she was more accustomed to observing, yet somehow the lines on his eyes inexorably marked him as a demon-lord, and drew her gaze toward his lips. His mouth seemed unnaturally pale, like his alabaster skin, but it fit him. Instead of appearing sickly, he almost glowed in the darkness like moonlight.

Holding her breath, she leaned in, only to realize at the last moment, she wasn't _supposed_ to be admiring his _lips_ or his _face._ This particular practice exercise was intended to cover the subject of kissing his neck. Everything else was off limits. Way off limits. So far out of bounds, that she shouldn't be thinking about it. In fact, neck-smooching was weird enough that she should, by all rights, be running screaming for the hills, rather than anticipating the way he might react.

She exhaled slowly, puffing up her confidence, and then completed her self-made task. As her lips touched his skin, she thought it was unnaturally warm and smooth and soft… Guys' skin usually had a more rugged texture, didn't it? Apparently, taiyoukai were an exception to this rule.

Certain she must be losing her mind, Kagome rested one hand on his chest, while the other remained on the shoulder-plate. She could feel his neck stiffen, and forcing herself not to surrender, she continued to gently lick the side of his neck, determined not to be deterred. As a matter of fact, he tasted very good too. Kind of salty but tangy, smelling of forest and pine and stormclouds. Hmm…

Throughout, he did not move, but the strain in his muscles gradually lessened, until the taiyoukai was practically leaning into her touch. Her anxiety also drained away, and she sat back, still rather surprised that he had not responded in a negative manner. Letting a human give him a hickey was probably pretty low on his list of 'things-to-do.' Yet he had passively held still and allowed her to work out her issues before the actual… um… procedure.

"You didn't kill me," she murmured happily.

Then, she saw the look in his eyes. Pools of gold that normally reflected shrewd rationality and cold logic at the moment looked like molten fire. She shuddered under the intensity of his gaze as he rumbled a reply that she barely heard. His voice sounded lower and rougher than usual, and it paralyzed her as he reached out to tug on the front of her outfit, pulling on the necktie of her school uniform.

What did he want her to do? Oh, right. They were supposed to be completing some sort of… youkai-ritual… and…

Before she could form a coherent thought, he forcibly shifted her to his side. His claws traced their way through her hair, sending delightful sparks down her spine, while his other arm – the one Inuyasha had removed – was put to good use, ensnaring her waist. The blush that had formerly heated her cheeks returned in full force, and she squirmed in his embrace, not really trying to escape, yet hoping to achieve some distance from him.

He ignored her attempts, opening a small cut at the base of his neck once more, and she remembered her mission. Lascivious thoughts would not make this process go more smoothly. She had to concentrate. A fact which was made a thousand times more difficult the moment she actually tasted his blood. The flavor was one she already knew from biting the inside of her cheek or loosing a tooth; it was no more appealing now than before. But the sensation of power and strength that followed immediately afterward overwhelmed her senses. It felt like a flood of energy washed over her skin, seeping into her pores and shutting off her brain. Stunned, she could feel Sesshoumaru's youki run through her like a storm, and she sought out more of this electrifying sensation, without really being aware of her actions.

Unlike the power of the Shikon no Tama, however, this energy seemed to hold a touch of the taiyoukai's personality. Underneath the current of power his youki contained, she could sense a bit of curiosity and desire, layering over her emotions like a foreign substance. He growled and pushed her back, but she could not sense any anger from him.

No – not anger or frustration or indignation or any of the things she might have expected him to feel. Instead, she felt fire. Heat pooled at the base of her chest, and butterflies began attacking her stomach-lining with vigor. His earlier molten-gold glare had darkened to rich and terrifying amber, and she moaned helplessly, not entirely sure anymore which of the emotions swirling inside her chest were hers and which were his. All she knew was that she felt relaxed and ablaze and no longer the least bit embarrassed.

With a soft growl, he leaned forward and grasped her chin, turning her head slightly. Then, he licked the side of her cheek, liquifying her intentions and thoughts. She could feel his claws prick her arm, as he slowly ran his hand over her shirt, and fought back a groan as he nipped her jaw, working his way toward her ear. It was too much. This could hardly be happening – she was a human, a no-body in Sesshoumaru's book, and he was a taiyoukai, all too perfect in both looks and ability – this could not be real.

"Um… Sesshoumaru," she whimpered, retreating from his onslaught, "I think maybe… what we did… is making you act…" But her faltering words only increased his attentions. She felt like melting, preferably into his arms, but knew this would be the wrong decision. "Stop," she ordered as firmly as she could, unable to put much force behind her words, "You're not yourself."

Half-relieved and half-annoyed, when he followed her instructions, she stared at Sesshoumaru and decided she quite liked the way he looked when he was speechless. For once, she could tell the difference between astonishment and simple silence on his part, even if his expression did not show it. "Is that supposed to happen?" she asked breathlessly.

"I would not know," he replied, "This Sesshoumaru has never created a blood-bond before."

"Did it work?" she questioned next, before glancing down and answering her own question. The wound on her knee had already scabbed over and looked well on its way to recovery. Plus, she no longer felt tired or quite so hungry.

"Yes," he agreed. "Most likely."

Standing slowly, to put some room between them, before she got any bright ideas like hugging him or biting him again, she tried to think of the right response for this kind of situation. She could still feel his power tingling through her veins, and she knew exactly how much it probably cost someone like Sesshoumaru in terms of dignity to loan someone like her a portion of his power. Especially in a manner that had such intensely odd emotional results…

The taiyoukai was a master at blanketing his expressions. Watching his face for a sign of his feelings did her no good. He merely stood up and withdrew the Tenseiga, facing away from her.

As soon as the barrier went down, however, her scattered thoughts were interrupted. A sinister feeling washed over her, like she was a rabbit being watched by a hawk. Immediately drawing an arrow, she turned in a circle, not certain in which direction the threat lay.

Black fog began to gather around them in the rapidly darkening night air, and Sesshoumaru held the Tenseiga aloft, glowing brightly, for guidance. But what he saw looming in the darkness chilled him so intensely that for a moment he forgot to breathe at all.

Out of the black mist, a glowing red orb overshadowed a pair of glowing eyes, set in the face of a colossal red dragon.

"Well, well, well," chuckled So'unga. "Look who I have found. Again."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Not good. Not good at all. Overall, this was very, very bad.

The last time he had faced off against So'unga had been in the mortal world, aboveground. It had been a challenge to defeat the Orochi demon then, too.

Apparently, his Father's oldest sword had been possessed by the soul of a dragon from Hell, named So'unga. After many centuries of confinement, So'unga's only goal had been to eliminate all life. At first, the evil blade had possessed Inuyasha, but when the hanyou proved too difficult to control, it had abandoned the boy for a different host. Then, So'unga had summoned an army of undead warriors and opened a portal to the underworld, intending to swallow all life on earth.

The only way that Sesshoumaru and his half-brother had been able to defeat the evil was by pooling their talents, using both the Tenseiga and Tessaiga. In the end, the Sword of Heaven and his Father's Fang had been sufficient to counter So'unga's chokehold on the lands, sending the vile sword back to the underworld where it belonged. But even when facing off against So'unga at full strength, the best Sesshoumaru and his half-brother had been able to do was _seal _ the blade and the portal to Hell.

Now, weakened by the blood-bond that he had just created, he was standing in So'unga's home territory. Moreover, the blade had possessed a new host. And unlike Inuyasha, this host was highly cooperative and compatible with So'unga's talents. In fact, the soul-orb that housed So'unga was no longer attached to a blade at all – this time, it was buried in the forehead of another demon-dragon.

These odds did not look good. Two fully charged demon-dragons, against one half-dead dog-demon, who suddenly understood that he was a long, long way from home. At his side, he heard the priestess gasp in terror. Obviously, she recognized the malevolent power that challenged them too.

Something pressed at the back of his mind, scratching its way to the surface and demanding his attention. He had felt a sinister force watching them all day. This seemed significant. For some reason, So'unga had been holding back earlier – allowing him to make a mistake, like forming a blood-bond with the priestess and thereby weakening his strength.

Could it be that the Hell-dragon feared the results of provoking him, when he stood at full strength?

The idea was a tiny bit comforting. Unfortunately, it was also mostly irrelevant at this point. The connection with Kagome had already taken place – his youki was divided between her body and his. There was no reversing the bond.

Wrenching the Tessaiga from its sheathe, he held both of his Father's swords aloft, guarding the miko at his back. It had worked once before, to use the Sword of Heaven and his Father's most treasured blade at the same time. Perhaps it would suffice again.

The first blow left him severely doubting this resolution. So'unga coiled and struck like lightning, nearly blowing him away with the force of air pressure alone. Sesshoumaru staggered but remained standing, his boots sliding off the pathway and onto the obsidian colored rocks they had been climbing all day.

There was no time to consider the consequences of stepping off of the path, however. Before he could recover, the dragon rolled to one side and snapped its claws toward the priestess. Sesshoumaru dove between them, stabbing the Tessaiga through a massive forefoot, preventing the blow.

At his side, Kagome blinked and stumbled backward. Evidently, her eyes were too slow to keep up with the speed of the battle. She was reacting a moment too late. Sesshoumaru ground his teeth in aggravation.

Luckily, he had already blocked the blow. But how could he afford to protect her and still move fast enough to win? "Close your eyes," he bit out, barely avoiding the crush of claws as the dragon closed its hand.

In a seamless motion, Sesshoumaru pulled away, and So'unga moved to sweep their feet out from below with its tail. He flipped backward toward the priestess, knowing that she would not be able to jump in time. Like a wall of steel-tipped scales, the dragon's tail swept toward them, and he plucked her off the ground not a moment too soon. Finishing his spin, he dropped her gracelessly on the ground.

"Use your link to me!" he shouted, pivoting to face his enemy once more.

Slightly off-balance from these two sweeping attacks, So'unga shifted to one side, and Sesshoumaru saw the opening he needed. He sprang, heading for the soft junction above the dragon's neck and beneath its jaw. There was no time to bring his sword around, though. So'unga drew back its head and he could smell the sparkling fire that gathered inside its throat.

Shit. He could elude the attack, but what about her? Desperately stabbing the Tessaiga upward, trying to reach the orochi-demon's windpipe, he despaired. There was no way she could avoid …

So'unga turned, snout sliding into his peripheral vision, as the mark he had attempted to hit slipped out of range.

Ah, yes. Of course. The demon- dragon was angry with _him_, not her. He was the son of the Inu-no-Taisho, the dog-demon general who had kept So'unga confined for centuries. Sesshoumaru was the primary target, not Kagome.

All of this ran through his mind in a flash, and then the firestorm hit. He had never been subjected to the full blunt of one of So'unga's attacks. It felt like the skin was being stripped right off his body, and he could feel the fur on his shoulder ignite in the heat.

Without even knowing what he did, Sesshoumaru instinctively crossed both swords in front of his body. Tenseiga glowed with a blackish-purple flame, forcing the worst of the heat away from him and to either side, and Tessaiga's barrier flared to life too, searing one of his palms. He crashed into the mountainside, almost a hundred yards away from where he started.

Gasping for air, he dragged himself upright and decided that perhaps Father hadn't been so unfair after all, with the barriers on the blades the old man had passed along to his sons. This was the second time that Tenseiga had worked to save his life. And even the burn of Tessaiga's barrier was a grand improvement compared to So'unga's power.

Smoke poured off his hair, and Sesshoumaru rolled into a somersault, smothering the flames in his fur, as So'unga roared in frustration. Prey was not supposed to survive such a blow. The orb embedded in the dragon's forehead glowed fiercely red, as So'unga gathered energy for a second attempt.

In a guttural voice, perverted by fury and fire, So'unga screamed. "Dragon Twister!"

This time, Sesshoumaru knew he had to avoid the strike. The twister was So'unga's signature move, a maelstrom of poisonous fumes and lightning. Yet there was no possibility to dodge left or right. The blast covered too much range. His only chance was to go… up.

Using the swords as well as his feet, Sesshoumaru catapulted into the air, while So'unga obliterated the ground behind him.

Now, what was that move that Inuyasha had done, again? Baku-ryu-ha. Fantastic. He could remember its name. Naturally, this was not the least bit helpful in a tactical sense. Stupid boy had probably named the technique on a whim, anyway.

Both swords were needed to defeat So'unga. His Father had done this much, seven hundred years ago, when the So'unga first appeared in their lands. Thus, Sesshoumaru could do no less.

Funneling as much energy as he could into the Tessaiga, Sesshoumaru unleashed the wound of the wind against his foe, angled just enough to miss hitting the priestess. Kagome had shifted a few steps backward since the fight began, but overall, she appeared to be staying out of the fray. Good.

The Tenseiga shone like a torch in his hand, practically begging to be used. He followed up his first strike, with a wave of purification energy from the Sword of Heaven. It was to no avail.

So'unga sank to the earth, allowing its scales to block his dual-assault. Sesshoumaru's youki danced across the razor-tipped plates like a ripple over a pond. The orochi-demon simply laughed.

"Is that all?" a husky voice taunted him. "Even your half-breed brother did better, you know."

The wind began to pick up again, swirling around the feet of So'unga's host. A demon-dragon using another of its own kind to do its bidding. For once, So'unga was perfectly in synch with its host. A pulse of demonic energy burst forth from the soul-orb in the red dragon's scaly-forehead, and the host-dragon inhaled, readying itself for another round of So'unga's favorite technique.

Sesshoumaru cringed. This was so very, very not good, he could not find words to describe it. No one had the energy to run forever. He could not afford to keep dodging enormous, ground-leveling energy strikes, every few seconds. The entire mountainside might crumble into dust.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kagome notch her bow. His eyes widened, as he realized she intended to join the fight. There was no way to dissuade her. The only chance he had to protect her was by distracting So'unga immediately. The taiyoukai threw himself toward his foe, hoping to land within point-blank range. Earlier when he came this close, the dragon had only used hellfire to burn him, rather than the Twister.

His subterfuge worked. As Sesshoumaru slid to a stop, he heard the whistle of her arrow. Through the connection of the blood-bond he felt her aura spike and sweep the field.

With a metallic ting, the tip of her arrow touched the soul-orb implanted in the dragon's brow. The shaft instantly broke from the force of the blow, but her power plunged onward, heedless of the loss of its medium. So'unga hissed, writhing to face the archer that had weakened him in such a manner.

And then, pain exploded into Sesshoumaru's mind through the bond.

Kagome screamed, and screamed, and screamed, and all he could feel was a vortex of dark energy rushing through her soul, tearing it apart and his too, because they were connected, their spirits bonded by his foolish act of mercy.

The air turned white, and he could see an explosion of colors and sounds all around them, as wave upon wave of purified energy rained down over their heads. Even So'unga quailed in the face of it, retreating slightly. If it hadn't _hurt_ so much, then Sesshoumaru might even have been amused to see his enemy in such a state. Unfortunately, he could not focus beyond the pain.

In every direction, amorphous shapes began to appear, coalescing from light to solid form. In the center of it all, he could see the spirit of a woman, glowing like the sun, if ever the sun could have donned armor and walked on the earth. Impossible as it seemed, the Shikon no Tama was melting into its component souls.


	7. Outrunning Destiny

Disclaimer: Characters and original plotline belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Author's Note: **SPOILERS for manga chapters 489 – 493, 495**, in which Shishinki shows up and battles Sesshoumaru. It's all very confusing in Rumiko Takahashi's version of the story. I hope my explanation is slightly clearer.

**Shadowlands **

**Chapter 7: Outrunning Destiny**

_Kagome screamed, and screamed, and screamed, and all he could feel was a vortex of dark energy rushing through her soul, tearing it apart and his too, because they were connected, their spirits bonded by his foolish act of mercy. _

_In every direction, amorphous shapes began to appear, coalescing from light to solid form. In the center of it all, he could see the spirit of a woman, glowing like the sun, if ever the sun could have donned armor and walked on the earth. Impossible as it seemed, the Shikon no Tama was melting into its component souls. _

The pain blinded him to rational thought, but he watched nonetheless, as gruesome figures surrounded him, spreading out on the mountainside like a cloud of ashes carried on the wind. The demons from within the Shikon no Tama were beyond ugly – each one was a medley of lower-level demons, compressed into a single body. Like Naraku, who had exponentially increased his own power by consuming other youkai, these demons had apparently done the same. No wonder Naraku had always felt such strong affiliation with the Shikon no Tama, and the demon-souls housed within it.

In fact, to his left, he saw a massive spider-demon, with armor like a spiked turtle-shell, towering over the field. It looked almost exactly like their arch-enemy had, in the final fight. Had Naraku's soul also been subsumed by the Shikon Jewel, before the end?

Sesshoumaru shuddered, another wave of agony ripping through his soul, as he whirled around to search for Kagome. They had to leave. It was the only clear thought in his mind. Leaving, now, was their only hope.

Even a taiyoukai knew when he was outclassed. He remembered how much trouble it had been to defeat Magatsuhi – one of Naraku's incarnations, created by using the willpower of the evil souls entrapped within the Jewel. And now, he would have to battle several hundred creatures, just like Magatsuhi, at once. Plus, it appeared he would have to defeat Naraku a _second _time, as part of the bargain. And if, through some freak accident, he should manage to survive all of that, then So'unga would be waiting on the sidelines with open jaws, ready to kill him.

So, they had to go. But despite his best efforts, he could not find her. A haze had settled over his eyes, and he could not remember which direction she had been facing, when she fell.

Mere instants passed, before utter mayhem broke out, huge chunks of the obsidian mountainside exploding into fragments. As the Shikon no Tama decomposed, the ancient demons housed within it seemed quite ready to continue their age-old war in a new environment. Luckily for Sesshoumaru, the youkai were equally willing to attack each other, as everyone else.

The massive, armored spider reared back and started spitting webs of steel thread over nearby opponents, drawing them closer to consume them, but the nearest youkai fought back, razor-blade pincers twanging through the metal filaments closing over its head. So'unga roared, with pure excitement, echoing his glee off the mountainsides, as the hell-dragon descended upon the other demons on the field. And at last, through the churning figures, Sesshoumaru saw the miko's tiny form, crumpled on the ground, bathed in glowing light.

She was lying next to the one pure soul housed within the Jewel. Or perhaps, Midoriko had moved to stand beside her. Either way, Kagome was not moving, and he rushed forward, dropping to his knees at her side.

This close to the spirit of one of the most powerful priestesses ever to exist, Sesshoumaru felt unhinged. Midoriko's holy aura crawled over his skin like electricity, and the light that poured off of her made his eyes water. He quickly gathered Kagome into his arms, staring down at the unconscious girl.

Why had Kagome taken such rash action?

She _knew _that her life was bound to her by the Shikon no Tama, as long as she remained in the underworld.

She _knew_ that using her skills as a priestess would hurt her in this place, because she had tried once already.

But she had done it anyway – drawing on her power to fire a purifying arrow at So'unga.

Standing in the netherworld, where her life depended on the Shikon to sustain her, any magic she employed would filter through the Jewel first. Firing such an arrow was like shooting her soul through the stone itself. She had purified it, melting it down once and for all – and in return, the Jewel had tainted her soul as its darkness flowed through her spirit.

Such sacrifice was too great. He had not needed the assistance. Surely, he would have beaten So'unga on his own, without her aid.

He _knew_ exactly how much it had cost her, because they were bonded, and he could feel her anguish. She was dying.

Without the Jewel, the only thing that still protected her life in the underworld was their blood-bond. The covenant they made no longer felt like a comforting string tied around his heart, it felt like a broken dam in a reservoir. His body literally hemorrhaged power, as his youki poured out, trying to keep her alive.

The voice of the ancient miko at his side broke through the fog of pain that enveloped his mind. "I cannot remain long," Midoriko explained, "The horizon calls; my soul must be reincarnated. But I will guard your path, as long as I can."

Clutching at the priestess in his arms, Sesshoumaru looked up. The demons amassed on the mountainside were avoiding Midoriko like the plague. Evidently, she had created some kind of a barrier to hold them at bay.

With a curt nod, but not a word of thanks, he flew toward the ebony slopes of the mountain range. It rose up before him like a wall, and he scrabbled his way up the incline.

The stone pathway that had been their guide now lagged behind, unable to keep up with his speed, and he could hear the ground rumble as the path lumbered its way up the side of the hill. For a breathless moment, he felt free, his soul unfettered, and he finally understood what the pathway represented. The fate that bound them. The choices they had made. Their time, running out. No wonder those villagers had feared it so greatly.

But he did not have to outrun his destiny, today. He only had to get far enough away to ensure the demons below did not escape through the Meidou, and into the real world. As he slid to a halt, the soles of his boots failed to grip, and Kagome tumbled from his grasp, landing heavily and sliding down the slick, obsidian slope. Snatching her arm with his left hand, he dug his claws into the rock, his heart pumping so rapidly that it nearly faltered.

Then, dragging her back to safety, he glanced at the field below, and he saw Midoriko's light beginning to falter. The ancient priestess was loosing her consistency, shrinking into a shining soul-orb. The battle of titans would soon spiral out of control. Sesshoumaru almost pitied the village of shadow creatures they had visited the previous day. An explosion of high-level demons, all across the Lands of the Dead, would surely have an impact on the locals.

However, that was not his concern. Their mission was done. The priestess had wanted to unmake the Shikon no Tama, and she had, so there was really no reason to stay.

Deciding he was far enough away to safely use the Meidou, opening a portal between worlds, he reached for the Tessaiga, only to find it was not there.

At his side, his belt was empty.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Running his hands over the smooth surface of the stone, Inuyasha took a long, shuddering breath. The grooves in the tombstone were well-worn by his fingers. He had visited many, many times, trying to let go of the hurt in his heart.

Strange, how when he was younger he had thought that nothing could wound his sensitive feelings like rejection. The hanyou had been forsaken by his own family, and cast out by the humans that shared his blood, once his mother died. Only Kikyou had begun to tame his wild nature, and he realized that she had been renounced by society, even as she protected it. As a priestess, Kikyou would never be able to live a normal life. And as a half-demon, neither would Inuyasha. He had sympathized and fallen in love.

But only Kagome had cared enough to see past his gruff, blustery exterior to the tender heart inside. Only Kagome had never given up on him, promised to stay by his side through thick and thin, and encouraged him to do good deeds so that all the world would know what she did – that Inuyasha was a nice person, deep down. And in return, he had not wanted to give up on her either.

Steadfastly, he had waited in the clearing, next to the Goshinboku tree, near the spot where a mystical well had once existed. Every day, his vigil had continued, like a prayer. He had felt the sad eyes of his companions on him, every so often, while he stared at the spot where Kagome and Sesshoumaru disappeared, yet he had refused to surrender.

It was not simply that Inuyasha was stubborn, though undoubtedly, he was. It was also that he had full faith in his half-brother. Sesshoumaru always, always kept his word. Even back in the days when the taiyoukai had hated his little brother, taunting and torturing him for being alive, the dog-demon had fulfilled his every promise.

Thus, the days had bled into months, and the months into years. By the end of the first winter, Inuyasha had begun to feel a little bit anxious. Surely, it should not take Sesshoumaru so long to rescue her?

And as the flowers bloomed on the cherry trees and the dogwoods, Inuyasha's heart had slowly begun to break. They would return, he had told himself firmly, and all would be right with the world again. But watching bright-colored petals fall, he had stopped believing it.

Surprisingly, the hole in his chest had ached just as much for his elder brother, as for Kagome.

Finally, even little Rin had approached him, quietly laying her tiny hand on his sleeve. Silently, Inuyasha had started crying. Rin had even more faith in her guardian than Inuyasha did. When she surrendered, so did he, by default. There was no way around it.

That summer, he had made them a gravesite. And the second winter after Kagome and Sesshoumaru disappeared, Inuyasha had prepared them – well, only Kagome actually – 'Christmas' presents. He knew how much Kagome enjoyed such things. The little wood carvings sat on top of the stone and calmed him when he was feeling too distraught to continue.

Sometimes, he imagined talking to her. Hell, sometimes he dreamed about talking to his bastard brother. But he always woke up again alone, the next day.

"Inuyasha-sama," the violet-robed monk said softly, standing a respectful distance away from his best friend's grief, "You cannot keep doing this to yourself. She would want you to be happy."

"I was," he answered simply.

Time passed, relentlessly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Going somewhere?" Shishinki asked, idly twirling his Father's sword between his fingers. "So like your Father, you know, to cause a disaster and then run away, without fixing the problem. Shame on you."

Sesshoumaru stared in horror. No! This particular enemy was dead! He had destroyed Shishinki, using the perfected Meidou Zangetsuha.

When Sesshoumaru first gained the technique, he had not known how to use it properly. This demon had tempted him, saying he could teach how to use the Meidou. But then, once Sesshoumaru had fallen into the trap, Shishinki had revealed the truth– he was the original creator of that technique. Sesshoumaru's Father had simply stolen it, destroying half of Shishinki's face, and leaving him for dead. Of course, the demon had been out for revenge.

During the fight, Inuyasha had shown up, and together the brothers had battled and beaten their opponent. Shishinki had been absorbed by one of the giant, nebulous black holes that Sesshoumaru opened, and as the Meidou had swept Shishinki away, he had shouted out one final parting shot.

"_Poor Sesshoumaru_," the enemy had crowed madly, as he disappeared from the Earth, "_Such a terribly cruel thing your father has done to you_!"

For a while, the dog-demon had agreed. As it turned out, the secret to using the Meidou Zangetsuha – the only way that he could form a perfect sphere – was by desiring to protect _his little brother_. He had never, ever revealed this little tidbit to anyone else, choosing to bury it deep within his heart.

Totosai had known, however. After the fight, he had paid a 'visit' to the old swordsmith, to confirm his fears. "Did you honestly think," the smith had smirked, "Your Father would allow you to condemn Inuyasha to such a poor lot in life?"

It had been the straw that broke the camel's back. After everything he had done to serve his Father, to fight honorably, to acquire strength, the old man had conspired against him. Sesshoumaru had felt ashamed. As he had mentioned to Totosai – his brother's weapon had the power to absorb other techniques. But his own sword, the Tenseiga, had no such power. Thus, Inuyasha was obviously intended to _defeat_ him and _steal_ his power, just like his Father had done to Shishinki! It wasn't fair! Had his Father hated him so much? Had the Inu-no-Taisho honestly wanted his youngest son to assassinate the older one?

Perhaps not. But that would have been the end result, if he had continued acting badly toward Inuyasha. He had no longer been able to despise Inuyasha, if he wanted to access the Meidou Zangetsuha. And he had been unable to mistreat or ignore his brother anymore. If Inuyasha truly hated him, and they continued to fight, then eventually, Sesshoumaru would have lost. The outcome had been rigged! So, the only way to ensure his half-brother did not hate him enough to fight was… to start being _nice_.

Well, 'nicer' anyway. Kindness was a relative term. Of course, after actually spending some time with his little brother, and fighting Naraku together in the end, Sesshoumaru had decided perhaps it was not… _inhumane_… of his Father to have made such a decision.

Still, he was not pleased to see Shishinki alive. This particular demon had caused more change and emotional upheaval in his life than anyone, except Rin. And unlike Rin, Shishinki knew all his secrets. The fact that his Father had loved Inuyasha more, while Sesshoumaru was second best. The fact that Sesshoumaru had surrendered to the dismal fate of actually _liking_ his half-blooded brother, lest the Meidou Zangetsuha never completely work for him.

So, how was it that Shishinki did not die, as he was supposed to? Was it because he had once owned the technique?

A moment later, the answer dawned on him. The Meidou did two things simultaneously – it disintegrated matter, and it opened a portal to the netherworld, condemning any souls it touched. But Shishinki, being a creature from the underworld originally, had not been harmed by the attack. Instead, _it had sent him home_.

The bastard had probably _sought_ that result, all along. Damn it! This was not what he needed right now.

Expression twisting into a snarl, Sesshoumaru lunged forward to grasp the Tessaiga – his only chance of opening the Meidou and sending them back to Earth. "Give it back!"

"I told you," Shishinki hissed, "There can be only one master of the Meidou. And that one is _me_."

"She is dying!" he shrieked, lashing out with his claws, sensing the power emptying from his veins to support the miko's fluttering life-force.

"Yes, the end is approaching quite rapidly," agreed the obstinate youkai. Following Shishinki's gaze, Sesshoumaru turned to see the stone pathway they had briefly outpaced, twisting its way up the mountainside, with ever increasing speed, as if it felt determined to catch its travelers. Only the road seemed more like a tiny footpath, now, with wild cracks and fissures running through it. It looked dangerously narrow.

Once more, he dove for the sword that held the Meidou, but he was altogether too slow. Shishinki kicked him backward, and he rolled down the slope, scrabbling to gain purchase. Above him, effortlessly imbedding his halberd into the rock, his opponent balanced on the mountainside with ease. The fight – and their respective positions – felt all too familiar.

"If you wish to live," the taunting voice returned, "Then you will need to be better than your Father."

"I have already surpassed him," spat Sesshoumaru, struggling to stand. Vision blurring, then focusing again on Shishinki's armor, he decided his opponent appeared just as pretentious as ever. Vines of thorns painted in dark green, atop a subdued background, adorned his chest plate, and the youkai clearly had an obsession with black clothing. He couldn't lose to such a foe.

Turning a cold, one-eyed gaze upon the struggling taiyoukai, Shishinki named his challenge. "No. Instead of stealing the Meidou from me and running away like a coward, you must earn it."

Sesshoumaru stared back with wide, desperate eyes, panting slightly in exhaustion. His Father had not been a coward, and neither was he! But he had no idea how to prove it to this person. Besides, there was no time. His energy was almost gone, and when his youki expired, so would Kagome.

"But… she is _dying_," he protested again, hating to sound so weak, but not knowing what else to say.

Yanking the crescent shaped halberd out of the ground, Shishinki touched its rounded tip, then swung it carelessly toward the unconscious priestess. A black elliptical egg-like shape surrounded her, shimmering like a heat wave, and abruptly, he could no longer smell her or hear her heartbeat. However, his power stopped slipping away like the grains of sand in an hourglass.

The pathway stopped advancing also, frozen in midair, several stride-lengths away from Kagome's toes. A chill feeling of terror settled over him, covering his spine and encasing him in ice. What just happened? Shifting uneasily, he moved toward the priestess he was trying so hard to save.

"Now, you have all the time in the world," nodded his opponent, clearly unimpressed by Sesshoumaru's futile arguments.

The taiyoukai noticed, absently, that the priestess looked rather peaceful, underneath the black dome that enveloped her. Was she all right? It wasn't normal for her to stay so still when she slept, was it?

With a sigh, Shishinki crossed his arms over his chest, tucking the staff of the halberd under one arm. "For obvious reasons, I do not appreciate having techniques stolen from me," he continued, regaining the dog-demon's attention. "But do you know what I hate even _more_?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head numbly, too taken aback to think.

Pointing toward the field below, the one-eyed demon answered his question. "Having over a _thousand_ ancient youkai dumped into my lands, on the whim of an impetuous youngster, who does not know what he has unleashed upon the world," he explained darkly, "Go back and finish what you started."

There and then, the taiyoukai decided that if he ever made it home, he was going to become a farmer. Farming sounded so restful. He was tired of being a warlord. All he ever did was fight and kill things. Lots of things. And apparently, he was so damn good at it that foreign demons from other worlds wanted to rely on his skills too.

He flinched, watching So'unga writhe through the fields below, a plethora of demons swirling around him. The base of the mountain seemed to be on fire, and the ground was alive with youkai. He looked at the Tessaiga, then down at his bare hands.

"Tch." As if detecting his unspoken query, Shishinki huffed. "No, you don't. Not until you have earned it."

"I have no weapon," Sesshoumaru explained blandly.

"No?" answered his Father's old enemy, unsympathetically. "Fascinating."

The black, misty clouds swirling above the ebony mountainside refused to lend Sesshoumaru any inspiration either. The Lands of the Dead and the demons within it had done nothing but collaborate to make him fail, throughout this entire journey. It was cold, there was no food, and he was so tired, and he had no _sword_. With no weapon, barely any strength left, and a thousand enemies to fight, exactly how would he accomplish anything? Entering a battle with nothing but sheer luck on his side was an Inuyasha-style maneuver.

This day had gone from bad to worse.


	8. Tenseiga Upgrade

Disclaimer: Not mine. Rumiko Takahashi's!

Author's Notes: Yes. I am obsessed with Shishinki! He seemed like a really great character. He will also have a small part to play in "The Challenge Posed" and a starring role in "All in the Family" if and when I finally get around to writing it.

You guys are awesome! Such great reviewers. This is my favorite story to write, so I am glad you all like it.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 8: Tenseiga Upgrade**

Mind racing, Sesshoumaru considered his options. His one chance to return to Earth had been stolen away by a demon from the underworld. Shishinki, one of his Father's old enemies, seemed to believe that the Meidou belonged to him, simply because he had invented the technique. Thus, if Sesshoumaru wanted to get back the Tessaiga, he would have to earn the right to it, by undoing the mess he had made in the Lands of the Dead.

And what a mess it was! Technically, this was all the miko's fault, of course. Kagome had tried to help him out in a battle against So'unga, and the shock of using her power had caused the Shikon no Tama to break. It did not simply break into shards, however, it decomposed into the multitude of souls which had been contained inside the Jewel. Midoriko had helped hold the demons at bay, momentarily, but now her soul was gone – a human soul in the Lands of the Dead either moved toward reincarnation or it perished. There was no happy medium.

Meanwhile, Kagome had passed out, since her link to the Shikon no Tama had snapped, and there was no more mystical Jewel to protect her life-force from the nasty side-effects of standing around in Hell. One of which was instant Death, for any mortal creature. In fact, when the Shikon disappeared, the only reason she had not died outright was because Sesshoumaru had formed a blood-bond with her earlier in the day. His youki had flooded out to sustain her life, leaving him weakened and pitiful.

So, now, it was up to him to deal with the demons that had been encased within the Shikon no Tama – one of whom seemed to be Naraku – then kill So'unga, and finally high-tail it out of this place. Easier said, than done. He had no Tessaiga to fight with, and his life-energy had been all but withdrawn by the miko, until Shishinki had halted the process, moments before he and Kagome both died.

Although his chances seemed horrible, Sesshoumaru had long since learned to work with what he had. Entering battle with nothing but luck on his side was unacceptable. He simply had to think of some alternative.

On the one hand, he wasn't completely weaponless. He still had the Tenseiga. He simply did not know how to use it effectively in the upcoming battle.

Sesshoumaru supposed it might be slightly useful. Although Tenseiga did not have _offensive_ purification powers, like holy arrows fired by a priestess, the Tenseiga did have _defensive_ holy powers, which it used to heal others. And prior experience had already taught him that its healing skills could be used to 'attack' certain creatures, specifically those that lived in or came from the underworld.

Thus, it would do little good against the 'living' demons that had been trapped in the Shikon no Tama all this time. But it _might_ work against So'unga, to a certain extent.

Clenching his jaw in frustration, he gripped the Tenseiga so hard that his palm hurt. What good was optimism, at this point? They were both going to die here. Using Tenseiga to battle the demon-dragon from the netherworld, while using his teeth and claws to battle the multitude of aboveground demons – it would take forever, and he was already at a fraction of his strength. So, he would die, and then the miko would die too, without his youki to sustain her, and he would have failed. Utterly failed.

But failure was not acceptable. Not when another person's life depended upon his. There had to be a better way!

Maybe he was simply over-thinking the situation. Everything the Sword of Heaven did was counterintuitive. It healed the living, and harmed the undead. It did not cut flesh, it attacked souls. Even though the Tenseiga was a demonic weapon, it had holy powers.

Then, like a fog had just cleared in his mind, Sesshoumaru blinked. Holy powers! Of course! What all of this meant was simple: the Sword of Heaven could channel holy powers!

He was about to do battle with youkai – from the mortal world and from Hell. Sacred power would technically harm any demon. All he had to do was figure out a way to switch the sword's 'defensive' magic to 'offensive' strength. Then, no matter whom he attacked, he would win.

So, what was the difference between using holy power to heal, and using it to kill? As a demon, he could not quite say, but a priestess could do both, effortlessly. And currently, Sesshoumaru was bonded to a priestess. The blood-connection he had formed allowed him to transfer power to her; why should it not work in the opposite direction?

Normally, blood-bonds between humans and demons were completely unproductive, and thus, not often created. Most mortals had no spiritual power to share, and if a monk or priestess was involved, the spiritual power was unusable to a demon – it was holy power. But Sesshoumaru had a unique advantage that no other youkai had. The Tenseiga could funnel sacred power through it – as proven by its ability to heal the living and purify the undead.

In theory, he should be able to draw upon his link to the priestess, then divert her strength into his weapon, allowing the Sword of Heaven to handle the holy magic instead of harming him.

Yes, it could work. In fact, it had to work, because Sesshoumaru could think of no other way to emerge from this battle alive, much less victorious. He absolutely _had _to find a way to use offensive spiritual attacks with the Tenseiga. Healing his enemies would be insane, and going into combat bare-handed would be only slightly less psychotic.

Closing his eyes, he blocked out the sounds of the thunderous battle below, on the foothills of the mountain range. Concentrating, he reached out to the threads of youki that remained in his body and ever so gently tugged on them. Beyond the indefinable space that divided him and her, he could sense her, weakly. But there was something wrong. The connection was not strong, like it had been earlier. There was no emotion inside of her, no health, or hurt, no information at all really. Just a current of power.

Youki was demonic-energy, so it naturally shied away from the purifying power of a priestess, but he forced the issue, pushing the remainder of his youki toward her. It felt like his spirit was pressing through a massive waterfall, battering him and pressuring him back. A few threads of his youki made it through the divide, somehow, tendrils searching out and wrapping around her searing strength.

Persuading her power to follow him was another matter entirely. The dog-demon growled in frustration, almost loosing focus. In this strange inner universe, without colors or life or names or feelings, all that remained was the blindingly pure soul of a priestess, burning at his youki.

But how could he borrow her spirit? For youkai, like himself, strength was tied to the blood – hence, the blood-bond he had made with the priestess. By taking his blood, she could gain temporary use of his spiritual strength. But the situation was entirely different for a priestess or a monk. In Kagome, the strength of her power and the size of her spirit and the purity of her soul were one and the same. And he could not 'borrow' her _soul_.

Abandoning the idea as unworkable, he pulled back his youki. A split second of warning was all he received, as he detected her spirit following his home. His vision faded to white, and then it _hurt_… even more than learning his Father had died, more than watching Kagura fall… With a frantic gasp, he pushed her aura toward his sword, letting the Tenseiga act as a conduit, so that he did not inadvertently purify himself, in his efforts to borrow her strength.

Apparently, there were reasons why a blood-bond between a youkai and a miko should not run both ways. Physically, he was faster and stronger, but spiritually? Kagome could probably vaporize his soul by accident.

The Sword of Heaven lit up like a torch, and then proceeded to grow brighter and brighter, until it hurt to look down at his hands. Sesshoumaru took this as a sign to begin. As he dashed toward the field below, the youkai stopped what they were doing, one by one, swirling to face the Tenseiga.

Well, at least he had their attention.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

About half-way through the slaughter, he realized he could have simply turned around and walked right back up the slopes, slashing Shishinki with the new-and-improved Tenseiga. Why this idea had not occurred to him earlier was hard to fathom. Perhaps it was that he had never backed out of a battle before, and a tiny part of him wanted to know how he compared to the multitude of demons once housed in the Shikon no Tama.

But honestly, a large part of the decision was based on Kagome. The one-eyed demon currently held the priestess in a state of suspended animation, seconds away from death. If he were to kill Shishinki, there was no guarantee that he would be able to reach her, form a portal between worlds, and then drag her through the Meidou before she died.

And strangely enough, he discovered that her life was more important to him than winning a battle against his Father's old enemy, more essential than defeating the one who challenged him. Even though his rational mind snickered, informing him it was weakness, it mattered not. He could not allow her to die, not when he had sworn to save her and handed over his weapon, Bakusaiga, as a pledge. And besides, he respected her – even liked her – after getting to know her better.

He had once told Kagura that he would not help her, unless she helped herself first. Above all else, he honored bravery – a quality the miko had in spades. Kagome would never have allowed herself to be dominated by Naraku, like the wind-demoness. The priestess would have died first. Not that he had been particularly pleased when this result finally came true for Kagura; by the time Kagura had proven her bravery to him, she was, in fact, dying because of it, and the Tenseiga had refused to resurrect her. But in any case, he thought, the priestess would never have begged and pleaded for 'aid' in the first place. And Kagome most certainly would not have tried to bribe him with _shards_ from a dubious Jewel.

So, yes, she was brave. She was also honorable; despite his half-brother's inadequacies, she had stayed by the hanyou's side all this time, merely because she promised to do so. Her word was worth its weight in gold, when she was serious about something.

Finally, Kagome was also kind. This was not a huge consideration, in determining why he liked her, but it factored into the decision. After all, she had tried to cheer _him_ up, while they traveled through Hell. Even if her optimism had been somewhat ridiculous, given the circumstances, it had been appreciated.

All of which explained why he was currently blood-soaked (not merely spattered) and panting heavily, as he fended off yet another blow from a particularly stubborn steel-backed spider. This demon was the most likely candidate for the embodiment of Naraku's soul. Sesshoumaru wasn't certain if the spider-demon actually _was_ Naraku, or whether it was simply an impression of him that had been left behind on the Jewel, but either way, the giant insect was causing him no end of difficulty. It had a tendency to hang back, using webs and snares to attack, along with poisonous fumes. It also could spit blobs of flesh, which transformed into additional warriors and puppets on the battlefield.

Baring his fangs, he tried to slide beneath the spider to reach its softer underbelly, but it sank down, blocking him with its armored back, once again.

So'unga chuckled nearby, chewing on the soul of a half-fish, half-snake demon with obvious relish. "Any time you want my assistance," the hell-dragon notified him, speaking with a full mouth, blood drizzling from his jaws, "Just let me know. That one looks tasty."

"You are surely the last person on my list of allies," snarled the dog-demon, not amused. Damned orochi and its ability to make all of this look easy…

"Your father always refused my generous offers, as well," replied the dragon, malevolence spilling into his tone. "More the fool, he." Obviously the fact that So'unga had been sealed into a soul-orb, like the Shikon no Tama, which was later sealed into a blade, still produced rancor in the evil-demon's heart. What little 'heart' he had, that is.

Sesshoumaru ignored the Hell-dragon for the time being, leaping backward to avoid being impaled by one of the spider's massive forelegs. The Tenseiga quivered in his grasp, and he spun to block the beast that had attempted to sneak up behind him. Brimming with purifying power, the sword sliced through the snail-like creature there, instantly reducing it to sparkling dust, and he immediately returned to the spider-demon.

The first few times this had happened, Sesshoumaru had felt slightly giddy, and decidedly jealous of the miko's powers. If he could regularly pulverize his foes with a single touch, turning them into glittering powder, then he would be one happy taiyoukai. But after a few hours of fighting, the glory of it had gotten old.

All the Tenseiga did was purify things, at the moment. It didn't have any special maneuvers or long-range attacks like his brother's sword. What about shooting diamond spears? That would be awesome too. And a broad-based offensive move would have finished the fight much sooner. He was exhausted.

In front of him, the spider-demon flinched and scuttled backwards rapidly, and Sesshoumaru took this hint to leap out of the vicinity, an instant before hell-fire scorched the earth where he had been standing.

So'unga had taken to attacking at random, thus making it harder to predict his attacks. To complicate matters more, the dragon had also started making his strikes lower-powered, but completely silent. Half the time, when the orochi-demon opened his mouth it was to mock or deride Sesshoumaru, but the other half, it was deadly. Unable to foresee when the dragon would assail him next, he felt understandably edgy and paranoid.

"Amazing. You dodged again," So'unga rumbled, glancing down at the charred stone. A less-fortunate youkai had been mostly incinerated and lay shrieking its distress. "This one didn't though."

Snapping up the carcass, the hell-dragon consumed yet another soul from within the Shikon no Tama.

The spider-demon looked at Sesshoumaru, and the dog-demon impassively looked back. But the chance of forming a brief alliance among his foes to defeat So'unga was less than zero. In this free-for-all, every demon fought for himself.

And Sesshoumaru was not about to take on So'unga without clearing the battlefield first. If he had to dodge maelstroms of energy right and left, then he wanted to ensure the ground was clear for landing. Being stabbed in the back by a weaker demon, simply because he had been paying attention to the major-players on the field, did not appeal. Thus, he started with the weakest demons and worked his way up toward stronger ones.

This spider-youkai was the first one to cause him a serious amount of difficulty. It seemed to divine all of his moves ahead of time, thus reinforcing his belief that this creature was a left-over, tortured piece of Naraku's soul. How else could it have known his fighting style so well?

Circling the spider in a wide arc, he placed at least one massive body between himself and So'unga. If the demon-dragon wanted to destroy him in a surprise attack, then he should not make it easy to do so. As if sensing his motives, the armored spider skittered to the side, attempting to leave an open path between Sesshoumaru and the ill-tempered dragon.

It was time to get serious. Since the spider-demon could predict all his moves, he would simply have to act more like So'unga, becoming an unpredictable opponent. After all, the hell-dragon was practically driving Sesshoumaru insane with non-sequitur comments – mixed together with offensive maneuvers. Perhaps this would work for him too?

"Hn," scoffed the taiyoukai, digging around for something suitably antagonistic to say. He was not used to _talking_ during battle. "It would seem the Shikon no Tama failed to grant your wish, twice over, Naraku. How pitiful."

Ironically enough, this seemed to do the trick. Although Sesshoumaru did not put any sarcasm or heat into his statement, stating bald facts annoyed the enemy as much as slander. And the name 'Naraku' had a profound effect on the spider. Hissing, it reared back to spit a steel-shaped web over his head.

However, Sesshoumaru had seen this move once already, when the Shikon no Tama first decomposed. Curling into a tight ball, his legs rocketed him off the ground, avoiding the trap. Bewildered, the enemy crouched low, keeping its armored back toward him. This time, he ignored the armor and aimed for one of its eight eyes.

As the Tenseiga slid into its eye-socket with a sizzling, gory display, the sword, drunk on holy power, actually did too _good _a job. A moment later, when Sesshoumaru tried to pull back, he discovered the blade had been stuck to the hilt, inside the cavity of the spider's eye. With a shrill shriek, the giant insect thrashed back and forth, and he found himself loosing his grip on the blade, flying into the air, only to land heavily a few yards away.

"_Where is she_?" the malformed spider hissed, seething with pain and anger, "She should be _here_."

And with that, Sesshoumaru realized he had been right all along – yes, this was definitely a remnant of the Naraku that they fought aboveground. Only one other would know about the final wish made on the Shikon no Tama, and Naraku's ugly desire to entrap Kagome in the stone for all time. Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru explained, flatly, "She is not here. You have lost, Naraku."

Fury seemed to lend the spider-demon strength, and it charged forward, mandibles extended, ready to bite and inject him with poison. He rolled out of the way, of course, but fatigue beginning to wear him down, Sesshoumaru was a trace too slow. One of the spider's forelegs caught his leg, cutting a gash across his thigh.

He stumbled. That would make his fight much more difficult, by decreasing the distance he could jump. And he had _just _been starting to regain some of the use of his youki, too!

On the defensive now, he retreated slightly, trying to form a plan to recover his sword. The Tenseiga was still imbedded in one of the spider's empty eye sockets, burning and blistering the flesh around it. And while he was pleased to know it was causing the enemy great agony, the spider-demon had proven its ability to fight beyond the pain. If anything, the fiery heat in its eye was spurring the creature to greater heights.

As his opponent advanced, suddenly, a tiny flickering light swooped down out of the bright white sky, and twirled frantic circles around the spider-demon's head. For a second, Sesshoumaru stared, thinking Midoriko had come back to assist him in battle. But then, he realized this was the same tiny soul that had been traveling with Kagome throughout most of the journey. The priestess had purified one of the corpses in the Land of the Dead, allowing the soul of a young girl to go free. Apparently, the impetuous little human soul had not traveled onward to be reincarnated yet. Instead, it had stuck by him for hours, as he fought, lingering in the background until it at last came forward to assist him, at the most unlikely of moments.

However, the unnamed soul did manage to aid him. It distracted his enemy long enough that he leapt onto the spider's head and yanked out the Tenseiga. The spider screamed, as he fell away.

Sesshoumaru pivoted toward the softer-underbelly of the insect, once he hit the ground, fully expecting the creature to block his attempt, but willing to try once more. Yet somehow, this time, instead of dropping to the ground, the spider shuddered and stumbled to the side. To one side, Sesshoumaru saw So'unga tugging the creature's massive hind legs, hindering its motion, crushing the armored shell.

There was a fissure of space in which to slide forward, and propel the Sword of Heaven into its abdomen. After that, the death-knell sounded for Naraku's final incarnation. The ending wasn't as impressive as the first time around, when Naraku had been fully conscious and purposefully trying to harm innocent villagers along with everyone else with explosions, clouds of poison gas, and lightning. Instead, this time, a purifying blade carved him up, leaving pieces of the giant, armored insect strewn all across the field.

Over top of the remains, a sinister sneer, full of rows and rows of sharp teeth, met his gaze. "Don't worry. I was not 'assisting' you," So'unga leered, "It was the only one left. Except _you_."

A quick glance to either side confirmed the truth of this. And an itty, bitty, tiny, _miniscule _part of Sesshoumaru's heart felt relieved that the evil dragon had done so much of the work for him. The rest of his mind began to dread the upcoming fight, though. So'unga had been picking off demon after demon, consuming them for strength. Meanwhile, he had been drastically drained of strength by the miko, and slicing other youkai into pieces did nothing to increase the strength of his spirit.

So basically, he was facing the same dilemma that he had a few hours ago, only the balance had tipped even further in favor of So'unga.

"My Father defeated you," declared Sesshoumaru proudly, holding his head high, "So shall I." Even if the circumstances under which his parent vanquished So'unga were _completely _different than the situation in which he now found himself…

The unnamed soul that Kagome had rescued flickered unsteadily by his side. "Go away," he whispered fiercely, lifting Tenseiga in front of his chest. "This one isn't like the others. It eats souls. Leave!"

The little, shining orb refused to listen. He shook his head minutely, wishing he could make himself understood. But there was no time.

Starting with a spray of hell-fire, like before, the evil dragon forced him farther away. The next attack would be the Dragon Twister, most likely, devastating the landscape like a hurricane of fire and lightning. With one injured leg, he had to keep running, because he could not leap out of the way in a sudden burst of speed.

So'unga took a deep breath, no longer caring to hide his attacks or catch Sesshoumaru off guard. They were the only two left on the field. It was time to make every possible effort to kill.

Instead of the Twister, however, the evil-dragon's next move was one Sesshoumaru had never seen. A wall of fire slammed into the ground, pushing forward like the tip of an arrowhead, the sides of the wall lagging slightly behind the crest. The amount of ground it covered, from left to right, compared to the dragon's wing-span.

Wide-eyed, he realized the only place to escape was upward – but he did not have the strength in his injured thigh to leap over the tall flames. Obviously, So'unga knew it too. Raising the Tenseiga to block, he grit his teeth and prepared to be scorched…

Only to watch as the inferno veered off-course, silently absorbed by a dark sphere of negative energy. The Meidou Zangetsuha – once his technique, then his half-brother's, but long before it belonged to either of them, Shishinki's pride and joy. It was an attack to nullify all others, when done properly, engulfing all matter and energy that lay in its path, even souls.

"Our agreement was for you to finish what you started," tsked the one-eyed youkai, leaning nonchalantly on the staff of his crescent-shaped halberd, "Not to pick fights with the denizens of Hell."

Baring his fangs, Sesshoumaru snarled. "Clearly, that is not what happened!" Was Shishinki blind?

But his Father's one-time foe was not looking at him; he was staring at the monstrous dragon instead. And unbelievably, wonderously, So'unga was _backing away_. As in, _retreating_. As in, the orochi-demon no longer wanted to _fight_…

His mind stalled on this, uncomprehendingly. The sum total of his knowledge about So'unga told him that the evil-dragon would never abandon a fight, because the beast wanted to destroy all life. Every creature So'unga came into contact with was a candidate for the next victim in the endless massacre. Was Shishinki really that powerful?

If he was so strong, then why didn't he try harder when they fought in the past?

A shiver of dread worked its way up his spine, and Sesshoumaru gaped at the smooth white mask that covered the mangled, missing half of Shishinki's face. An unreadable, dark eye gazed back, and without further ado, Shishinki held out the Tessaiga. "Thank you," he said. "As promised, the Meidou is yours now."

Bewildered, Sesshoumaru took back his Father's sword, gawking at the Tessaiga like it had grown horns.

"Just so you know," added Shishinki calmly, with a subtle smile, "I think you could easily have beaten him. But best to conserve energy for the journey home, yes?"


	9. Three Year Delay

Author's Notes: My favorite story to write, and I nearly abandoned it! Car accident + coma + brain damage = I write very _slowly_ now. But I continue to try.

This chapter is dedicated to **CordeliaBlack,** whose reviews encouraged me to keep writing.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 9: Three Year Delay**

Wearily, he trudged his way back up the mountain to reach Kagome. The priestess still lay beneath the black oval of energy that Shishinki had placed around her, silent and still, without even a trace of breath or scent to betray the fact that she was still alive. Sesshoumaru did not know what to call her current condition – it seemed deeper than sleep, yet he could tell that she was not dead, for her spirit still sang inside the Tenseiga.

When he had been asked to fight So'unga and the demons once contained inside the Shikon no Tama, the taiyoukai had despaired at first. The Sword of Heaven, Tenseiga, it was usually a defensive blade, which healed others. But eventually, he had realized he could use it like a conduit, funneling the priestess's holy power through their blood-bond and into the blade. And unbelievably enough, this plan had worked.

It was not how blood-bonds were meant to be used, though. Even now, he could feel the priestess shining inside of his blade, and it felt strange to be so close to her blindingly pure, holy aura.

Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru focused on the scene before him more vigorously. Exhaustion was creeping up, and each passing moment made it harder to think, but he knew that returning to the earth was their next, most important step. At his side, the demon Shishinki also trailed to a stop, staring down at the human lying quietly beneath his power on the mountainside.

"I would pick her up, before creating the gateway," noted the vexatious demon-lord at Sesshoumaru's side. "Not after. The moment you step through, the time around her will unfreeze."

With a small growl, Sesshoumaru decided that he despised Shishinki even more for doing things like stating the obvious. Yes, all right, fine. At the moment, his head was not working properly, since he had not thought about how to complete their expedition, until his erstwhile companion mentioned it, but… he would have figured everything out in the long run. The pathway created by a sphere of the Meidou only lasted for a few seconds. Regardless of how tired he was, he had to gather up Kagome, open a portal, and then slip through it, before the Meidou closed or the priestess died. _Obviously_, he would need to be carrying her.

Reaching into the black space around Kagome's body, Sesshoumaru felt his hands go cold and nearly jerked back in surprise. Whatever spell the other demon had placed over her, to prevent her time from running out, it was lifeless and frigid to touch. So was she, for that matter. Not a single heartbeat betrayed her existence under his hands. A sliver of worry inched its way through his gut as he bundled the little priestess to his chest. The icy, dark feeling of the spell around her began to seep up his arms and into his chest.

Luckily, for once, the fact that he had been without a limb for so long became useful. Effortlessly, Sesshoumaru balanced the priestess in one arm, along with Tenseiga, using the other hand to create a darkened gateway. Without another glance at the demon his Father once defeated, whom Sesshoumaru had resolved he absolutely, positively _hated_, he stumbled through the Meidou and into the light of the sun.

It was almost blinding, to see such a beautiful afternoon after so many hours underground. The netherworld was not a hospitable place for things like… color. But here, there was color everywhere! Green and brown and blue and… In fact, all numbers of different _shades_ of these colors sent him reeling too.

In his arms, the miko began to breathe again, but otherwise did not move. The relief he felt on her behalf was excessive and unproductive, yet there it was. She was all right, and they were both home, and, damn it, the appearance of this clearing made him feel downright happy.

Trembling with exhaustion, Sesshoumaru laid the miko gently on the ground, then closed his eyes, breathing deeply and reveling in the smell of fresh grass and trees and clear, warm air. A summer breeze eddied around them, and he thought he had never sensed anything so wonderful in his life. Without the constant drive to fight, to survive, his youki began to recede, leaving him increasingly bone-weary.

It seemed like he had been away forever. It felt like he had run a thousand miles without stopping. He thought he was fully entitled to a nice, long, restful nap.

Wasn't there something that he had to do, before taking this nap? No, surely not.

When Sesshoumaru opened his eyes once more, the first thing he saw was a tombstone, bearing his name.

The second thing he saw was Kagome's name, immortalized beside his own. From the other side of the clearing, the engraved boulder battered at his brain like a jagged pike. About ten seconds before he passed out, the significance of the tombstone finally dawned upon his tired mind.

Perhaps, they really _had_ been away for a long time. But any further contemplation was impossible – his mental faculties simply weren't up to the task. The last thing he thought, before sleep claimed him, was simply this: "_Why the hell is my name spelled wrong_?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It had been a long day, although not a difficult one. Inuyasha seriously considered making Miroku carry one of the bundles of rice. The monk grew greedy, whenever he went on a demon-slaying expedition with Inuyasha. With the half-demon around, their chances of winning any battle sky-rocketed. Inuyasha could easily overpower every youkai they encountered with the Bakusaiga. Thus, Miroku usually asked for a steep fee from landowners who needed an exorcism.

Moreover, the bum knew that he could force Inuyasha to carry all the rewards back to town, however ill-gotten their gains might be. As a result, again, Miroku was inclined to ask for a large fee, since Inuyasha would be the one carrying the burden. Damned rice bundles were heavy!

Frowning, Inuyasha dropped the rice off at Sango and Miroku's hut. Meanwhile, the monk went to check on his wife. Sango was close to the end of her second pregnancy, and concern had been radiating from the monk all day.

Somehow, participating in such activities did not appeal to Inuyasha, though. Birth was smelly, messy, and judging by the sound of it, painful for women. So, he avoided encountering it. Plus, thinking about Sango having babies always made Inuyasha think about families in general… which made him think about his own family… Sesshoumaru and Kagome.

One was family by blood; the other, family of the heart. Both gone now.

It still hurt to think about them, although admittedly, the ache had lessened over the past year. In the past few months, he had even started practicing with Bakusaiga. At first, Inuyasha had avoided unsheathing his half-brother's sword. But lately, the memories did not upset him so much, and he had decided that even _Sesshoumaru_ would not have been such an asshole that he wanted to _waste_ the weapon. They had traded swords, when his half-brother offered to travel to the netherworld to save Kagome. It had been a fair trade! It wasn't like Inuyasha was stealing Bakusaiga or something.

So, every morning, he had begun to practice with it, in the forest.

The blade was ridiculously powerful, perfectly balanced, and it smelled a little bit like his half-brother. On one level, it made him nostalgic, but deep down, Inuyasha enjoyed holding the blade. Over the last few months, in fact, he had become proficient enough with it that he could aim the lightning-storm it created, toward small targets, before releasing a blow.

The downside to wielding Bakusaiga was its tendency to dissolve everything it touched. If he unsheathed the sword and gently trailed it over the grass, for example, the greenery would shrivel up and melt, bubbling as if it had just been touched with poison. It acted like Sesshoumaru's toxic claws – only it could not be turned off.

So, Inuyasha had to be very cautious about when and where he used the blade. The metal had to strike enemy youkai and absolutely nothing else. Unlike the Tessaiga, he could not swing _this _sword carelessly.

Gradually, it had compelled him to develop better fighting techniques. His sword-strikes had become more controlled and precise, and his temper had stabilized. If he could settle a fight without drawing his sword, then he chose to do so, every time. Because in the end, the Bakusaiga was not the kind of weapon one should whip out at a moment's notice. It was the sort of blade to reserve for specific moments and purposes.

Sometimes, using the blade made him understand the way his brother had always behaved.

Thoughts like that, however, always made Inuyasha immediately stop practicing and return to the village. Missing Sesshoumaru was one thing – but trying to understand him? That was unacceptable.

In any case, rather than tag along with Miroku to check on Sango's health, the hanyou found himself outside, trailing toward the forest. Perhaps he could spend the afternoon training, instead of smothering himself within a hut. It had been a few days since he had last practiced with Bakusaiga. Using the sword during a trip for hire – that didn't count.

A tiny patter of fox feet echoed in his direction, so Inuyasha stopped to wait. Shippo was not always in the village, these days, but he returned periodically to brag about his accomplishments in the fox-demon Youjutsu exams. The other kitsune were amazed by him – at such a young age, he had already accomplished a great deal, and he had seen even more.

"Inuyasha!" shrieked the tiny kitsune happily, when Shippo saw that his friend was waiting patiently for him to arrive. "It's a boy!"

With a sigh, the half-demon turned and allowed the kitsune to leap onto his shoulder. "Miroku totally expected another few girls," continued the fox-demon, "But I told him that the gods would not allow someone like _him_ to live in a house surrounded by only women."

"Feh," scoffed the hanyou, "He wouldn't enjoy that as much as he thinks."

"True," Shippo nodded sagely, "Not even Miroku can deal with that many women."

Flicking one ear in annoyance, the half-demon stared at the passenger on his shoulder. "Um… Shippo, you do realize," grumbled Inuyasha, "That Miroku's interest in women would not extend to his _daughters_, right?"

The fox-demon merely blinked at him in puzzlement, not understanding the point that Inuyasha was trying to make. "Of course," the green-eyed fox replied blandly, "They are too young now."

Moments later, the kitsune was flying through the air, after being launched by a punch from his guardian. Unfortunately, it seemed that no one had ever explained to him exactly _why_ Miroku had chased after ladies. Inuyasha did not take the time out of his day to explain it now, either.

It was not until Shippo went flying that the half-demon's nose twitched in recognition. That smell…

From behind, in the forest, he could detect a faint trace of Kagome's scent, and beside it he could sense his half-brother Sesshoumaru as well. Without a word, the half-demon fled into the trees, running as fast as he could toward the odor. Many times over the years, he had dreamed of it, but he had never actually detected their scents. But this was more than memory, more than hope – this was a real smell, picked up by a sensitive half-dog-demon nose.

Heart racing, his feet dashed toward the clearing where the Bone Eater's Well once stood. The scent was strong now, burning his nose. It smelled like fire and blood, overlaying his half-brother's storm-like scent, which overlaid flowers and peaches and… Kagome.

Sliding to a halt, he burst through the treeline and stared.

The beating of his heart almost drowned out the sound of their breath. But it was real. He wasn't imagining it. Their heartbeats were real, and their breathing was real, and…

Kagome lay beneath the taiyoukai, perpendicular to his form, which was sprawled rather ungracefully across her torso. Sesshoumaru was covered in blood and soot, with large patches of hair and fur either missing or blackened by fire. One hand clutched the Tenseiga, which shone like a star in his grasp. Neither one of them was moving.

"Kagome?" asked the hanyou desperately, without receiving an answer.

Dragging his half-brother off of Kagome, he gently rolled Sesshoumaru to one side, and lifted the priestess in his arms and raced for the village. First, he had to find Kaede and get the old woman back to work – there was no time to waste on things like cooing over Sango's baby.

Then, he had to find someone to help him carry his half-brother back into town. Inuyasha wasn't sure he was strong enough to lift the taiyoukai himself; furthermore, the dog-demon was badly injured. Treating him like a dead weight might worsen his injuries.

At times like this, he missed having Kirara around. Damn that Kohaku for running off with the fire-cat!

"Kaede-babaa!" he yelled, approaching the monk's hut, "Old woman, get out here!"

His voice brought both the old priestess and Miroku to the door of the hut. Both of them fell instantly silent, all signs of jubilation replaced by shock. Suddenly, the birthday of Miroku's first son had become even more significant. Laying Kagome down carefully outside the hut, the half-demon nabbed the monk without another word, and carried him back to the forest.

And if Miroku's face had looked shocked to see Kagome, appearing out of the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the afternoon – the monk looked absolutely appalled to see Sesshoumaru, laying in the clearing. They both burst into activity. Inuyasha picked up the Tessaiga and sheathed it, tucking the blade into his hakama beside the Bakusaiga. Meanwhile, Miroku tried to sheathe the Tenseiga, only to discover that Sesshoumaru refused to relinquish it.

With a snarl, the unconscious taiyoukai pressed the glowing blade into Miroku's throat, and the monk quickly threw his hands up in surrender. "Ah, he does not seem ready to let go of this blade, Inuyasha-sama."

Next, Inuyasha tried the same action, with exactly the same results. Only when the hanyou felt the Sword of Heaven swing in his direction, he quickly skittered out of the way. At the moment, the Tenseiga was… dangerous. As unbelievable as it might seem, every instinct in his body warned the half-demon to keep his distance. Being touched by that blade, right now, would be an incredibly bad idea. So, they allowed Sesshoumaru to hold onto the Tenseiga, as they carried him back to the village.

Tumultuous excitement greeted them on their return.

"Kagome-chan," Sango was sobbing, holding her newest child, while collapsed into a human puddle beside the priestess's form. "Kagome-chan is alive!"

Shippo was running laps between their huts, helping the elderly priestess gather medical supplies. When they appeared, transporting a blood-soaked taiyoukai, Jaken exploded into absurd, unhelpful comments too. Since the monk was holding Sesshoumaru's feet, Inuyasha walked backward, carrying his elder brother's shoulders, and the third time that the tiny, green youkai almost caused him to trip, Inuyasha growled threateningly. "Jaken, cut that crap out, and shut up!"

Thankfully, Rin saved the day, by encouraging her caretaker to one side. But even the little girl's eyes were wide with disbelief. Suddenly, the inside of Miroku and Sango's hut seemed a bit cramped.

And suddenly, the inside of Inuyasha's heart seemed as light as air.

He had always thought that his half-brother kept promises. It was true, after all.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"But _why_ won't she wake up?" came a high-pitched whine to his left. The tone of it was childish and startling, nearly dragging Sesshoumaru awake. Muddily, his thoughts would not center, and his chest felt sore and empty, tired. He turned his head toward the voices.

"Keh," scoffed his half-brother, an easily recognizable tone. "Don't be stupid, kit. They need rest."

"But Kaede says she's not hurt, and…"

"Get outta here." The hanyou's gruff voice continued, affectionately. "Brat."

There was a good feeling, inside of his heart, even though he did not know why. Even without opening his eyes, it seemed like a candle had been placed close to him; he could see the flame in his mind. Whuffling slightly, Sesshoumaru turned back toward the comforting light. Just before falling asleep again, he heard metal scraping over a wooden surface, as he moved his hands, but that was all right too. It felt good to have a sword in his grip.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The second time he woke, Sesshoumaru's mind was mostly clear. His body still felt a bit fatigued, but demonic-energy had gradually been returning to him – the level of his youki had nearly recovered. Opening his eyes, he saw the inside of a wooden cabin with a thrush-reed roof, and he smelled the presence of seven humans, including Rin. He also scented his half-brother close by, although not indoors.

Ironically, it was night-time now, and the humans were all asleep, on the opposite side of the cabin. Laying close beside a pair of toddlers, Rin breathed deeply under the same blanket as the rest of them. And the final human was at his side.

Sesshoumaru stared down at the priestess, noting the way that she smelled now that she was clean and the way that she lay perfectly still. It looked like the others had bathed her, but dark circles under her eyes implied continuing hunger and thirst. He frowned.

How long had they been lying here?

As he sat up slowly, the blanket slid to his waist, and the vague, subdued glow at his side now bathed the cabin in light. The Tenseiga enthusiastically gleamed up at him, from his fist. Sesshoumaru's frown deepened.

Why was the Sword of Heaven still shining like it had purifying powers?

Of course, the answer for this question quickly presented itself. The Tenseiga was still acting as if it carried Kagome's soul, because _it did_. The problem was obvious. After all, he was the one responsible for the residence of her soul inside his sword in the first place.

The solution? Not so simple.

To be perfectly honest, Sesshoumaru could not quite remember how he had achieved this result. He had been going into battle unarmed, which was unacceptable given the caliber and number of demons he had to attack. The only weapon in his possession had been the Sword of Heaven. However, since Tenseiga was a healing sword, he had desired to transform the blade into something more deadly against demons, by utilizing his recent connection to the priestess.

So, he had reached out to her reiki… using his youki… which had been possible because his demonic-energy was bound to her, by the bond they had created… But what then? Oh, damn. He didn't know what he had done.

Strangely enough, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. The idea that he might suffer _consequences_, as a result of trying to save her life in this fashion, that idea had never dawned on him, somehow. How exactly did he push the miko's soul back into her body?

"Kagome," he hissed, under his breath, close enough to her ear that she would be able to hear him. Holding the Tenseiga aloft over her body, he pressed it onto her skin. "You may have it back."

The comatose priestess ignored him. Nothing happened, although the light from his sword outlined sharp shadows on her face from below. Her breathing did not change; her heartbeat remained sluggish and steady.

"Thank you for the… assistance," bit out the taiyoukai, "Take it back, now." Internally, he gathered his youki and pushed against the holy energy in his blade. It did not go anywhere, however, leaving Sesshoumaru bewildered.

Maybe he had to pull her reiki away from the sword, instead of pushing it toward her body? Expanding his demonic-energy as gingerly as possible, the dog-demon wrapped his aura around the blade and tugged gently. Absolutely nothing happened, yet again.

All right, maybe he had to visualize exactly what he was 'pulling' first? Closing his eyes, the taiyoukai could feel the soul of the priestess with crystal clarity, emanating from the sword in his hand. It simply seemed that the girl's soul no longer inhabited her body, at all. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he poked and prodded at the searing, white, holy energy with his youki, the girl's soul stayed firmly within the Tenseiga.

Right. So, the soul had to be extracted from the sword and reinserted in her body. The crease in his forehead increased, as Sesshoumaru realized he had no idea how to do this. In fact, the tool he usually used to manipulate souls and healing energy was in his hand. One swipe from the Sword of Heaven could kill pall-bearing imps from the underworld, returning an individual's soul to her body by default. This time, however, the miko was _not dead _and he had to manipulate the Tenseiga to… manipulate itself, somehow.

A headache progressively dilated behind his eyes. Then, at last, a drop of inspiration! He could simply reinsert the soul into her body, physically. Yes, this might work.

Feeling foolish for not considering this sooner, Sesshoumaru dragged the miko's blanket down to her waist, laying the sword against her throat. With constant pressure on the blade, he sank it into her flesh, only to watch in horror as blood blossomed over her skin and began pouring out of her chest onto the floorboards.

Instantly, he yanked the Tenseiga backward and toppled over onto his own set of blankets, staring at the priestess, aghast. Her flesh healed in a purple glow, returning to its previous state. Apparently, the otherworldly blade he held still carried healing properties. Yet her soul remained firmly fixed in one location, while her body lay in another place. Stabbing her with her soul would not solve the problem.

With a growl, his half-demon brother pushed the bamboo reeds from the doorway, as Inuyasha streaked inside of the hut. "Kagome?" muttered the hanyou, sniffing the wound that had recently healed on her throat.

Rapidly, the boy noticed the fact that Sesshoumaru was awake. It took another few precious moments for the half-demon to perceive the blood on the tip of Tenseiga. The low-pitched snarl his half-brother emitted then spoke more than a thousand words.

But fortunately, in the last three years, Inuyasha had learned temperance. "I am going to assume," grumbled the half-demon slowly, "It was an accident, since you did just spend three years saving her life."

As if to mock him for his lack of knowledge, the boy's words circled through Sesshoumaru's head once more. _Three years?_ This kind of surprise was unnecessarily cruel, he thought. _Three years, instead of three days?_


	10. Bond of Souls

Author's Notes: I have to re-read my stories entirely now, every time I write a chapter. _Short-term memory loss, it sucks_!!! I discovered upon re-reading this story, that it was awesome. But this chapter is NOT up to snuff. Sorry.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 10: Bond of Souls**

"What d'ya mean, she isn't going to wake up _until you get back_?" At the end of his question, Inuyasha exhaled - a small, sharp noise of impatience, like a tiny dog's woof. But the ire in his half-brother's voice was understandable. Unexplained delays always frustrated Sesshoumaru too.

He had promised to bring the priestess back safely. Instead, he had brought her back _in pieces_. Her body was fine. Her soul was... also fine. They simply were not connected any longer.

Not that he was going to explain this to his half-brother.

Without knowing the effect of this divided condition on a human, he was unwilling to allow her linger in such a state for long. Kagome needed to eat. The others had poured water down her throat, then meaty soup upon his suggestion. But five days without food was a long time for a human. He had to find a way to fix her plight quickly.

And because the problem related to the Tenseiga, he planned to take the sword to its maker. Totosai had designed the blade, named it, and knew _far_ more about it than he claimed. For instance, the old, doddering blacksmith had known about the Meidou Zangetsuha, hidden deep within the Tenseiga. The old man had known that Sesshoumaru would never be able to use the Meidou properly unless certain conditions were met.

All in all, it seemed like another test. Perhaps bizarre demands had to be satisfied for this, also. Yes, Sesshoumaru could just see something like this happening. "_In case my son ever involuntarily attaches the soul of a priestess to his sword_," Father, the late Inu-no-Taisho, might have said, "_Make sure that he twirls around backwards thirty-seven times, before closing his eyes and singing. Only then, may souls be released from the blade._"

After spending almost a month with the Tenseiga, learning a new technique, he had been furious to discover the technique was never his to keep. So, it did not seem too preposterous to imagine that his current dilemma might be linked to another one of his father's unfathomable demands. At least the Inu-no-Taisho kept life interesting.

"I mean exactly what I say." The taiyoukai's glare did nothing to reassure his half-brother. "Do words sound differently when spoken inside of a human village?"

"Agh!" squealed the hanyou, rising to his feet and clenching his fists, "I can't remember why I missed you! F'king bastard. Were you _born_ so tight-lipped, annoying, and greedy?"

The white dog-demon paused to consider this. To his way of thinking, the first few insults sounded correct. He _was_ purposefully avoiding the truth, while speaking to Inuyasha. And obviously, Inuyasha could tell. No good justification for Kagome's sleep had arisen during their conversation.

But greedy? That one didn't quite make sense. "Greed does not factor into this," he answered mildly.

Wait! Had Inuyasha just said that he _missed_ his elder brother? It felt like a fragment of his consciousness had gone astray and never returned, when Sesshoumaru finally processed these words. Whether spoken in the heat of the moment or not, the fact that Inuyasha actually _regretted_ his absence for the last three years was strangely sweet.

With a huff of irritation, he turned his head away, breaking eye contact with the hanyou.

"Yea, well I notice you haven't given back the Tessaiga yet," the surly voice of his half-brother complained. A trace of curiosity barely showed through the question.

The Tessaiga and the Tenseiga were once the same blade - a crucial fact which Sesshoumaru had never known while Father lived. Also, Sesshoumaru had broken the Sword of Heaven once, on the side of his half-brother's blade. It was possible that both would be necessary to solve this problem. For instance, what if the Tenseiga was 'incomplete' now, in some way? If he needed to hold a perfect, complete sword, in order to transfer souls through the metal, then Sesshoumaru planned to have both blades nearby, before talking to Totosai.

"The Bakusaiga may remain with you for another few days." Surely, another few days was all he would require.

Then, walking out of the hut, he headed out of the village. Keeping his half-brother ignorant of the situation did not help, though. As he trailed away from the area, he could hear a pitter-patter of tiny feet, following his every move.

Of course, Jaken and Rin both wanted to come along. And in the distance, over one shoulder, he could see his half-brother moving toward them. After communing with the humans, it seemed that the blue-robed monk also wished to join the group. The hanyou and the monk echoed his movements, from afar.

Fine, then. He would simply treat them like extra baggage. When the time came for Rin to remain behind - because humans could not travel across the lava-encrusted ground around Totosai's home - Sesshoumaru would simply leave Rin with these other companions. The monk could watch her.

Now, if he could only guess how to get rid of his half-brother... Rubbing his forehead, the taiyoukai realized that he needed to plot this sequence of events out more carefully. Dealing with the hanyou would not be an easy task. For some reason, the boy felt entitled to know absolutely every detail that had transpired in the underworld, rather than the sparse outline that Sesshoumaru had presented.

"Oi! Bastard!" called the half-demon, rapidly approaching him from behind, "Wait up!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The smell of sulfur overwhelmed him, as he landed. This place was not the same spot where Totosai had lived a few years ago. It seemed that the Meidou Zangetsuha, which Sesshoumaru fired toward the old man's hovel, had made an impression. Now, the old swordsmith lived inside of a the skeleton of a _dragon_, not just a fire salamander.

As if that would improve the situation, when angry customers returned to kill him.

Other than the altered skeleton arrangement, however, everything else looked much the same. There was an unhealthy amount of lava, solidifying in the cracks in the ground. The demon blacksmith was senile, and he did not seem to notice how much fire he spewed or in what direction. Melting all the rocks around him, by accident, while he worked, this was completely normal for Totosai.

Unfortunately, there were only a few moments left, until Inuyasha arrived. Although he had left Jaken and Rin at the foot of the hill with the monk, the irascible hanyou had insisted upon accompanying him. Thus, Sesshoumaru had taken flight the moment that his half-brother spoke, leaving Inuyasha to fend for himself across lava-encrusted dirt. Hopefully, this would slow his little brother down long enough.

"Totosai!" barked the taiyoukai, standing outside the old man's home. "Tenseiga requires repair."

A tiny grumble met his ears from deep within the skeleton. After a few nasty comments, softly spoken but still perfectly audible to a dog-demon, Totosai emerged from the cave-like pit that he had dug into the ground, underneath the dragon's ribcage. "Oh?" snuffled the scruffy looking man, rubbing his nose. "Doesn't seem like it."

Holding out the recently modified blade, Sesshoumaru stepped forward to greet the old man. But strangely enough, when Totosai reached for the sword, he did not want to let go. Something warned him quickly and sharply, not to release the Tenseiga.

Surprised, he glanced down at the glowing blade in his fist.

Come to think of it, when was the last time that he had sheathed the Sword of Heaven? Not since the soul of the priestess had been added. In fact, he never even considered it. Sheathing the Tenseiga seemed acceptable, but the idea of locking _Kagome_ into the darkness on the inside of a sheathe... that seemed terrible.

Wiggling his fingers, Sesshoumaru tried to lift his palm from the hilt. A piercing feeling of white-hot pain lanced through his chest, and he immediately gripped the hilt once more. Wide-eyed, he stared at the Tenseiga, wondering how he could have overlooked such a vital piece of the puzzle.

In any case, letting go of the hilt would make no difference. The blacksmith instantly lowered his arms upon seeing the unearthly shine of Tenseiga. "Well, would you look at that?" Totosai murmured happily. "How did you stick _her_ in there?"

Aghast, Sesshoumaru stared back. This was not exciting, pleasant news! This was a disaster! But the blacksmith merely rubbed his palms together, looking quite delighted with this modification to his masterpiece.

"More importantly, how is the soul to be removed?" inquired the taiyoukai.

To one side, he could hear vociferous complaints as Inuyasha climbed the hill. Apparently, the half-breed did not enjoy running across lava, despite the fact that his feet healed quickly. A few more breaths and the hanyou was next to Sesshoumaru, panting heavily.

Totosai continued as though they had not been interrupted. "How should I know?"

The dog-demon tried to ignore the presence of his half-brother, as well. He could not wander around for the rest of his life, holding a sword which he could not sheathe or lay down... On the other hand, at least he could fight with the Tenseiga now. Kagome's soul was highly effective at vaporizing demonic enemies.

"This Sesshoumaru thought perhaps you might be able to repair the blade. Both Tessaiga and Tenseiga are here..."

"Tsk." The elderly man rolled his eyes, disparagingly. "That has nothing to do with it." Without another word, Totosai strolled back into his smithy.

So, shoving the Tessaiga at his half-brother, Sesshoumaru yanked the Bakusaiga from the sash at his brother's hip. There, now they had traded swords again. If the Tessaiga was unnecessary in this transaction, then so be it. But Totosai was _not done_ answering questions yet. He could not be allowed to wander off.

Inside the cave-like hole, which Totosai had carved into the ground, white hair flickered in the gloom as a very determined dog-demon chased down his prey. "In that case, what should be done to the Tenseiga?"

Totosai blinked at him as if he had lost his mind. "Why nothing, of course! It is perfect!"

"To remove the..." growled the taiyoukai, desperately guarding his words, because his half-brother stood close behind him. "To make the sword the way that it was _before_, without the new _addition _ to the blade?"

"Ah?" Totosai's face was so gaunt-looking that his eyes almost seemed to bulge out of his skull, as he turned toward them again. "That cannot happen, I'm afraid. I don't know how to get her _out_ of there... I can't even imagine how you got her in there, in the first place. Should have been impossible."

A crinkle developed in the middle of Inuyasha's forehead. "What are you guys talkin' about?" he asked, glancing back and forth between the swordsmith and his elder brother.

Miraculously, Sesshoumaru failed to answer him. Yet again. Instead, he sidestepped the main issue as gracefully as possible. "It was not an intentional maneuver."

"Doubly impossible, then," quipped Totosai, raising both eyebrows in surprise. "Do you know how difficult it was to create the Tenseiga? 'Make a sword,' your father says to me, "To contain nothing.' Then, he reveals the hard part. The nothingness contained in the sword, it absorbs everything else - substance, energy, space, dimensions - _everything_."

Disturbed, Inuyasha moved closer. "Get _who_ out of the sword?" he inquired quickly. "As in... Kagome? Are you telling me Kagome is trapped _inside_ of the Tenseiga?"

The senile swordsmith stopped in shock. "Ka-go-me..." he muttered under his breath, rubbing the bald pate of his head. "Why does that name sound familiar..."

"The old man is simply confused," Sesshoumaru calmly informed his half-brother. And although this statement was technically _not a lie_, because Totosai did seem rather puzzled _at that moment_, Inuyasha's suspicious glance proved that he had not been fully convinced. "All that matters is how to add or remove souls from the blade," continued the taiyoukai, looking pointedly at Totosai.

"Can't be done!" trilled their companion. "Like I said, it contains nothingness. The healing powers of the blade, those are simply a pleasant side-effect."

Somehow, the old man could be very confusing at times. Now was one of those times. "Side-effect?"

"Yes, yes." Totosai gazed affectionately at the metal blade. "Because it had to contain an absolute void, and I couldn't think of any other way to create it."

The air inside the smithy was stuffy and hard to breathe. It smelled like the tangy, leaden bite of hot metal, and it was hard to concentrate in such an environment. Sesshoumaru forced himself to stay focused.

In his mind, the Tenseiga had always seemed useless. A sword that could not cut people, but healed them instead. A blade that could attack those from other worlds, like the dead. A contradiction of sorts, which he never quite understood.

Yet he had never once suspected that the healing properties of the Sword of Heaven were unintentional. In fact, he had always assumed that Totosai added the essence of a priestess, or some other holy item, to the blade. He had imagined that the Tenseiga utilized holy magic, as one of its component pieces. But in what way could healing powers become a side-effect of the Meidou Zangetsuha?

Apparently, this stumped his half-brother too. "The Meidou Zangetsuha is a healing technique?!"

Totosai stared at them, as if they seemed transcendentally stupid. "Of course not," responded the old man, tartly. "Tenseiga can attack everything. Even the time of death. But that's just a side-effect. Have you ever _watched_ it heal someone?"

Hn. It sounded like the elderly swordsmith was downplaying the Tenseiga's healing abilities, disparaging his own creation. And yet that was not true. Totosai had always described this blade as his masterpiece.

Sesshoumaru had watched the Tenseiga bring both Rin and Jaken back from the dead, and several others besides these two. He had never analyzed exactly how the sword operated. But now, for the first time, he did.

To be honest, it didn't really _heal_ people's injuries. It simply annihilated soul-bearing imps from the netherworld, and without anywhere else to go, the victim's soul returned to the body. Still, Totosai was correct. That did not explain why a victim would heal, fully and completely, without even a scar. It was almost as if the sword could unwrite the injury, itself. It could make reality a place where the injury had never happened.

How would that be tied to the existence of the Meidou Zangetsuha, though?

The Meidou swallowed all that it touched. Inside of it, matter would vanish and energy attacks would dissipate. And it opened a portal between this world and the next. Totosai had described this ability as absorbing "everything" - even dimensions. But he still could not comprehend why this produced a healing effect. Unless... unless...

"It absorbs time, too," he finally realized.

That was how the healing properties of the Tenseiga could be a _side-effect_. It simply unwrote everything around it. Including time. The one who received Tenseiga's blessing could heal as if he had never been injured at all. Because technically, he hadn't. And that might explain why the sword needed to be used within a certain time frame, lest it could not heal its intended recipient.

"Hmph," scoffed the old swordsmith. "Doesn't _absorb_ time. Merely outside of it. How else do you think I could contain the ultimate void, inside of a thin strip of metal? The Meidou absorbs everything. But your father wanted to contain it, without absorbing the container. So, we pushed the Tenseiga outside of time. That way, the sword cannot be absorbed, because it is eternal. Do you have any idea how difficult that was?"

No, Sesshoumaru thought. No, he could not imagine how difficult it was. But that did explain why the Tenseiga had always looked perfectly new, and the bindings on the hilt never aged. All his life, he had wondered why the Tenseiga was so well-maintained by Father, while the Tessaiga was rusted, chipped, and scratched into bits.

A headache loomed behind Sesshoumaru's eyes. How could he undo the steps which placed her in the blade? Honestly, he didn't fully remember what had happened. First, Shishinki had appeared, stealing his father's fang and their method of getting home. Then, because the miko was dying right before their eyes, his father's enemy had placed her under some sort of dark, elliptical dome. It had prevented her death, while Sesshoumaru finished the rest of the demons on the field.

What did Shishinki say? Although Sesshoumaru had been exhausted and hardly paying attention, toward the end, his opponent had instructed him to carry the priestess through the Meidou. When he walked through the portal, Shishinki had claimed, the time around her would unfreeze.

All right, then. According to Totosai, the Tenseiga was not affected by time. And briefly, the priestess had been outside of time also. Perhaps this was why her soul remained frozen, inside of the sword. Perhaps only an object already outside time, like Kagome's soul, could be added to the Tenseiga?

Of course, he had no clue how to fix this problem. The only solution would probably involve destroying the Tenseiga, and undoing all of Totosai's hard work. The swordsmith would not want to assist them in destroying his greatest piece of work.

But who else would be able to help, in this matter?

As Sesshoumaru stalked out of the blacksmith's shop, he thought of one person who might help. Certainly though, she was the last person he hoped to visit.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You resemble your father in the most unfortunate ways."

A droll smile met Sesshoumaru's gaze. He stood before the throne in a palace, where his mother resided. An annoying, bossy, cantankerous sovereign, yet he needed to defer to her today. Sesshoumaru held his tongue.

"He fell in love with a human, and he was obsessed with swords," the white-haired lady continued. "But you have outdone him. Inserting a human soul into your sword, then falling in love _with your sword_... This is most unusual."

Sesshoumaru was the type of person, who refused to see mirth in a joke made at his expense. He did not smile. Nor did he reply. He silently, resolutely awaited an answer.

Aside from the powers contained in the Tessaiga, the only other item on earth which controlled the Meidou Zangetsuha was called the Meidou-seki. It was a stone that his mother wore around her neck. So, Sesshoumaru theorized that she could use the Meidou Zangetsuha, and perhaps she could duplicate the technique that Shishinki had used on Kagome in the netherworld. If they could recreate all the steps which led to Kagome's imprisonment, then perhaps they could free her. At least, this was how he viewed it.

"Tell me again, why you formed a blood-bond _and_ a soul-bond, with your sword?"

"Only the first, not the second," Sesshoumaru corrected her, stonily. "This one merely formed a temporary bond, using blood. There is nothing more..."

" A bond formed with a priestess in an unusual location." His mother interrupted with a sneer. When she spoke the word _priestess_, it sounded like poison. "A bond used in a very untraditional manner."

The courtyard around them seemed calm and quiet. But Sesshoumaru felt tense and anxious.

_At least_, he thought, _Inuyasha was not able to follow me, here._ The castle in the sky, where his mother lived, it was inaccessible for those who could not fly. Thus, he could speak freely to his mother, without worrying that Inuyasha would overhear what happened to Kagome.

"The circumstances were unusual," he protested, "But the procedure was not."

His mother waved one hand in the air, dismissively. "In the end, you sustained her life through the blood-bond. And then, she sustained yours, by allowing you to borrow her power."

This was true enough, he thought. In effect, the only reason Kagome lived was Sesshoumaru, and the only reason he lived was because of her. Still, that did not change the type of bond that had formed between them. Did it?

"Foolish child," the lady chided angrily. "If your father had bonded so deeply with me, I would be dead now. Lives and lifetimes are shared, when two souls intertwine like that. It is always a mistake."

Gripping the Tenseiga tightly, Sesshoumaru considered these words. His mother seemed as confusing and discouraging as Totosai. Neither the swordsmith, nor his mother, believed that he could 'undo' the problem that he had generated. But really, he was not concerned with making the sword exactly like it was. And he was not concerned about any unusual bond that he might have formed with the priestess. Sesshoumaru merely hoped to wake Kagome. The blue-eyed priestess had to awaken. Her life mattered.

"Fine." Shrugging his shoulders, the taiyoukai gazed at his mother. "Suppose it is a bond of souls, instead of a bond of blood. What difference does it make? I wish to release the priestess from Tenseiga, where she has been trapped."

The white-haired lady huffed slightly. "Then, let go of her."

He stared down at the sword in his hand. He had not released the hilt, since returning from the underworld. It felt like a bad idea. It had hurt him, piercingly, the one time that he attempted this. Could the answer be so simple?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The others were fairly silent as he knelt beside the priestess. Everyone else took it for granted that he could solve this, but secretly, Sesshoumaru thought his concern must be obvious. He still did not know how to reinsert Kagome's soul into her body.

Totosai said it could not be done. Once Kagome's soul was trapped inside of the sword, it was outside of time, and the body would age, while the soul did not. Reunification was impossible.

But his mother said it would be easy. All he had to do was to let go of the hilt. On the other hand, perhaps his mother did not know about all of the properties of his sword.

The dog-demon winced, sensing the issue could not be avoided very much longer. But when Inuyasha learned the truth, he would be furious. And for once, this was not a result Sesshoumaru sought to achieve.

Sweeping his concerns under the rug, Sesshoumaru decided to try something half-way between his mother's suggestion and what the swordsmith said. He would release the Tenseiga, while he was physically in contact with the priestess. He would also shift almost all of his spiritual energy into her form, along the tentative threads that currently bonded his spirit to Kagome. The blood-bond was still in working order, so he planned to use this as a source of strength.

With a sigh, he slid one hand around her wrist, firmly touching her skin. The other arm held the Sword of Heaven above her slumbering form. Eyes closed, he opened his right hand, then hissed as a painful dagger of purification power washed through him, the moment that his hand lost contact with the hilt of Tenseiga.

Automatically grasping the sword again, he clenched his teeth, trying not to breathe too deeply and demonstrate his distress. It felt like Kagome's soul was sliding underneath his skin, whenever he tried to let go of the blade. And she was a priestess, while he was a demon, so the clashing energy hurt... quite a lot.

In fact, when he originally channeled her energy into the Tenseiga, it had been to avoid this feeling. Maybe he simply had to accept it? After all, he was a powerful youkai, not a weakling unable to stand a few moments of pain.

This time, when he released the sword, he refused to surrender. He wanted to let go of the sword, Sesshoumaru instructed himself firmly. He wanted the miko's soul to be free...

The room dissolved into pain. Breathing was torture. Every nerve in his body cried out in agony. His vision bled white.

Being purified by an _unconscious_ priestess. That just added to the insult. Through the hazy whiteness, he saw flashing images that distracted him from his fury.

_Don't come any closer! _ she shrieked, waving his father's weapon in his face,_ I'll cut you! _ And for a moment he had wondered if this bravery meant the girl was not human, after all... But she was. She was simply nothing like the others. Strange.

Rin's scent drifted into his nose, through all the miasma surrounding them. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest with the need to go to Rin immediately. But he was unable to leave the priestess behind him. She was too important to the final fight with Naraku. _I'm going to fly out_, he warned her, carrying her through the darkness on his fur. And later, when he fought Inuyasha, who had been possessed by Magatsuhi, he warned her again - _Stay out of the way, where it is safe_ - but of course, the priestess did not listen...

He could almost taste it. Her soul. It felt like fire, as her purifying energy passed through him. It felt like the bond between them was solidifying into crystal. But he had promised to protect her, so he did not fight back against this feeling at all. He simply ferried the power back toward its original home. Even if the only way he could give back her soul was to loan a little bit of his own, in turn.

And finally, she opened her eyes. "Sesshoumaru?" she murmured.

He smiled, before realizing where he was. And what he was doing. Hn. Somehow, during the soul-transfer process, he had shifted on top of her and he was sitting on her thighs, one leg on either side of her body. He was also dangerously close to nuzzling her forehead.

In the background, Inuyasha's growls were not at all subtle.


	11. To Reach an Understanding

Author's Notes: Chapter dedicated to** Kyonkyon01** - because you "took notes" on the last chapter and guessed what was coming!! Slight spoiler for **manga chapter 558**...

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 11: To Reach an Understanding**

After she awoke, Kagome was horrified to learn they were missing for _three years_. Only three days had passed, while she and Sesshoumaru walked through the underworld. But time evidently traveled differently in other dimensions.

Even worse, the Well had closed. When Naraku had made a last, fateful wish on the Shikon no Tama, he had sucked her into the Meidou Zangetsuha, and all traces of her presence in the world, including the Bone Eater's Well, had disappeared. And unfortunately, recycling the Shikon no Tama was not the same as undoing Naraku's wish.

The only thing left was her memory. Mother, brother, grandfather, friends... all of them had vanished along with the time-traveling portal in the Well. She would never see the family shrine again.

Still, this was not the end of the world. Kagome had built a life for herself on this side of the Well, too. She had close friends here, and she carefully reminded herself of this fact every time she felt morose about the loss.

Ironically, she did not _feel_ too sad or gloomy. The abrupt loss of three years, and the loss of the Bone Eater's Well, these events should have upset her more than they did. Instead, she accepted it. Which was quite amazing... considering how strange it all seemed!

No - the most unpalatable part of her daily existence was coping with her friends.

While they traveled the countryside seeking shards and battling Naraku, Kagome had always remained the positive one. Whenever Miroku's wandering hands got him in trouble, Sango had needed comforting. Whenever the curse on his hand worsened, Miroku had needed silent, emotional support. And of course, Inuyasha had needed reassurance too! Despite the fact she had not _wanted_ him to visit Kikyou, she had known that it was important. Whenever he ran off to see Kikyou, she had encouraged him to leave and then welcomed him back to the group, steadfastly accepting his apologies every time.

But now, it wore Kagome out to pretend she was the same vivacious, supportive person that she had always been. Staying energetic and friendly - it felt like she was acting out a role. And this was strange! Kagome thought she should not need to _pretend_ that she was happy.

It wasn't that she felt depressed. She simply felt... more quiet and calm than usual.

On the other hand, perhaps she _was_ depressed, and she simply did not recognize it?

With a sigh, Kagome hauled the two toddlers off of Inuyasha. Sango and Miroku had started a family, while she was gone. They had twin daughters, and a newborn baby boy. The girls were terribly cute, of course. They had been climbing on Inuyasha all morning, sitting on his shoulders and tugging on his ears.

Surprisingly, the hanyou seemed used to it. He never spoke a harsh word to either child.

Meanwhile, Shippo had been cartwheeling about and showing off his newfound skills. All of them were overjoyed to know that Kagome was alive, but none showed it as much as the kitsune. He had regressed into the state of a two-year old child, himself.

Luckily, with Sango's two children in her arms, Kagome became magically off-limits for a hyperactive fox-demon. Shippo was not allowed to jump on her, while she held fragile human babies. And this pleased Kagome. But it also hurt her feelings to think that she was _glad_ to be able to avoid her fox-kit's attentions.

What was wrong with her? She had missed everyone as she traveled through the netherworld. She was very glad to see them again. But for days, it had felt like she was being harassed by well-meaning friends. Each time, she felt she needed to convince them somehow that she was fine, she was happy, she was so very content...

Really, she wanted to take a break from everyone else's attentions. Going unnoticed for a little while, this sounded like paradise.

As if the half-demon could tell what was bothering her, Inuyasha lifted the twin girls out of her arms, once more. Then, he solved the problem in a brand new way!

Holding the twins out by the backs of their kimonos, he deposited them on top of Shippo. "Go slay the kitsune," Inuyasha advised the toddlers.

Wide-eyed, the fox-demon protested weakly. Yet when he saw how it made Kagome laugh, Shippo begrudgingly accepted torture at the hands of human toddlers for a little while.

"Thank you," whispered Kagome, once they had meandered far enough away from the rest of the group to avoid being overheard.

Inuyasha merely grunted in reply. Tucking his hands into the sleeves of his top, the hanyou trailed after her as she entered the forest.

Bizarrely enough, Sesshoumaru also surreptitiously followed the pair. Since she awoke, the taiyoukai had never been more than a stone's throw away from her side. It annoyed the daylights out of her hanyou protector, and it confused everyone else in the group. But deep down, Kagome did not mind.

At least, she thought, if she had Sesshoumaru following her around, then he would be _quiet_ company. A companion who did not expect any certain type of behavior from her. No smiles or hugs or stories... not even a listening ear, because heaven forbid, Sesshoumaru was not a conversationalist.

Now, if she could just figure out how to keep Inuyasha and his elder brother from growling and glaring at each other for longer than a few minutes...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A soul-bond.

It had taken him days to accept this, but Sesshoumaru finally agreed with his mother's analysis of the situation. He had inadvertently formed a soul-bond, not only a blood-bond, with the young priestess. The mistake was reasonable enough - they had used the original bond in an unusual fashion, thereby changing its nature. Without his youki, Kagome would not have survived the destruction of the Shikon no Tama, while standing in the underworld. And without her reiki, Sesshoumaru could not have defeated the enemies that faced him there.

But there was slightly more to the story...

His mother tended to answer questions halfway. She was not above deception, if she thought it would achieve her goals. And without a doubt, the Lady of the West did not want him to be permanently bonded to a _human_. So, Sesshoumaru theorized, it was quite possible that she only told him half of the story, when he questioned her earlier.

In hindsight, the conversation seemed a bit more clear. First, Sesshoumaru had questioned his mother about the Meidou-seki and whether she knew how to remove souls or magic from the Tenseiga. She had avoided answering, telling an anecdote about Father instead. Then, she had mocked him, describing the Inu-no-Taisho in a negative fashion and comparing the two of them. Finally, when she had been unable to evade or anger him into giving up, the Lady of the West had relented.

But only partially. Because his mother only took steps that benefited her in some way. When she informed him how to remove Kagome's soul from the sword, she had told him to "let go" of the hilt, thereby releasing Kagome's soul as well. Yet while this answered the question that he had _asked_ - it would release Kagome's soul - it did not answer an _unspoken_ question. Namely, whether Kagome would be all right afterward.

As usual, he had not listened to his mother too closely. He had taken her advice, but he had weighed it against something equally important. When Sesshoumaru had tried to let go of the hilt of the blade, he had noticed that it physically pained him to do so. Pain alone was not such a big deal. He was a powerful demon-lord, and he could handle whatever the world dished out to him. No, it was not the pain which troubled him. It was the instinctual feeling he had that letting go of the Tenseiga would be a dangerous idea.

After a few peaceful days of rest, in which he relaxed and analyzed what had occurred, Sesshoumaru decided that he had been sensing possible danger to the young priestess, not to himself. The thought of releasing the Tenseiga, without being in contact with Kagome's form, it had alarmed him.

And this solution, it matched what he knew about his mother too. The Lady of the West did not like humans. She had been less than impressed to learn he formed a bond (of any kind) with Kagome. She would have been happy to misinform him on the "proper" method of releasing the girl's soul, if it removed Kagome from the picture.

Ultimately, he had relied upon instinct. He had sought information from both Totosai and his mother. But in the end, Sesshoumaru had offered a piece of himself to the miko, without taking someone else's advice. It was difficult to describe in words, what he had felt at that moment. It was like...

They had formed a rudimentary bond at first. Then, he had stepped the game up a notch, when he "borrowed" the miko's soul. Because she was a very giving person, even unconscious, she had loaned power to him freely. And the only way to pay for someone's services was an equal trade. If her soul was loaned out to him, then he had needed to pay her back.

No wonder soul-bonds were so rare. It was hard to explain one, even though he had firsthand experience!

He did not know what this meant for him, long term. Lots of information had been thrown at him quite suddenly. He had learned that the Tenseiga existed outside of time. It had been designed this way in order to contain the Meidou Zangetsuha, an infinitely absorbent technique. And he had learned that he was spiritually connected with a human priestess, on the deepest of all possible levels. By accident.

But what did a soul-bond mean for the two of them? According to his mother, when two souls intertwined, lives and lifetimes would be shared. Did this mean that he had to safeguard Kagome for the rest of her life, or else she might be killed, thereby killing him too? Perhaps she would accidentally trip over a log and break her neck, and Sesshoumaru would instantly follow her to the grave?

He had never heard of a soul-bond acting in this fashion. But then, he had never really heard of a soul-bond being formed except in myths and legends. Naturally, he had sent Jaken to the Western Lands with instructions to research this phenomenon as thoroughly as possible.

One thing he learned about his bond with Kagome right away - it was very reactive. He had felt traces of her emotional state when they first completed a blood-bond. But it was nothing compared to the way that her emotions assaulted him, now.

She was like an impulsive child, constantly changing her mood. When she ate lots of dinner, she felt content and sleepy. When she played with the children, she felt happy. When she looked at the empty clearing that once held the Bone Eater's Well, she felt terribly sad.

Sesshoumaru could not help but wonder what sort of emotional feedback she was detecting from _him_. As a result, he endeavored to remain calm and quiet. Imperturbable. Serene. And he could tell that she was picking up on his internal state, because she had been acting slightly more introverted and subdued than usual.

Honestly, it was very disconcerting to blank more than just the expressions on his face. He always _looked_ unruffled to the rest of the world, and he liked it that way. Until recently though, he had been able to feel whatever he might-damn-well-please on the inside.

Yet he did not want to make the soul-bond obvious to the girl. Heaven only knew, it was unnerving to feel someone else's emotions inside his own chest. He did not want to terrify her, which would upset him by extension, which would make her feel even more desperate... The whole conversation would go downhill from there.

So, he had not explained any of this to Kagome yet. Lying to himself, Sesshoumaru decided that he was simply waiting until Jaken returned. With more information about soul-bonds, he would be better prepared to handle Kagome's questions.

On the other hand, Inuyasha had seen the strange way that he was acting around the priestess. Even a half-breed could pick up subtle hints, if there were enough of them. He could not delay this conversation forever.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I apologize most sincerely, m'lord," babbled the tiny green demon, "That I did not produce more substantial results." Jaken had returned in the middle of the night, bearing an armful of scrolls from the Western palace where Sesshoumaru's mother lived. They had spent the rest of the evening going over the scant traces of information that he had discovered.

So far, Jaken had talked too much and imparted too little. But this was normal. Sesshoumaru was used to it.

And despite the fact that the little green imp thought he had not uncovered any good information about spiritual-bonds, this was not entirely true. There were a few ideas in this pile of scrolls, which the taiyoukai had never heard.

The first idea was about energy linkage. Apparently, ki or chi - an individual's life-force - was predominantly produced in central areas of the body, such as the heart, lungs, spine, intestines, and the head. These so-called "energy centers" could be linked with another person, allowing one individual to intuitively detect the health and fitness of another from a distance. This sounded similar to a blood-bond, Sesshoumaru thought, however it was a superficial bond that only ascertained health, instead of lending it. Still, it was interesting to know.

The second idea that was new to Sesshoumaru, it was called the Pledge of Fealty. One of the scrolls mentioned that a mortal could pledge his absolute allegiance to a demon, and the mortal would be granted a life-span equal to that of the demon he served. The pledge had to be absolute and unwavering, though. If thoughts or concerns for another individual ever entered the mortal's heart, the pledge would be broken, and his life would be instantly absorbed by the youkai he served. According to the scroll, this sort of faithfulness was beyond most humans. It took a trace of insanity, even to contemplate this route toward immortality.

Unfortunately, the other documents repeated the same sort of stories that he had heard as a child about soul-bonds. A pile of contradictory information met his gaze. A bond between souls was irreversible. It was easily severed. It was romantic. It was unwise and not romantic in the slightest.

Rolling up the paper in front of him, Sesshoumaru carefully replaced the bindings on the outside of each scroll. It was nice, he mused, to have two arms again for such activities. Finally, he faced the little youkai who had turned into a quivering bundle of anxiety beside him, despite the fact that Jaken did exactly as he had been asked.

"Are there any other papers that you made note of, yet were unable to bring?"

The kappa shifted uneasily from foot to foot, rocking the Staff of Two Heads in his grasp. "There was a book, m'lord," he said, "It was too heavy to carry. I am sorry! I am too small!"

Before the green-skinned youkai could work into a distressed, panicked state, Sesshoumaru interrupted. "Jaken."

"Oh!" exclaimed the toad-like demon, abruptly remembering his story-telling task. "Yes! It seemed extraordinarily old, with pictures of blue-skinned gods on several pages. The papers were bound together on one side, with leather coverings that wrapped around them. The characters were also strange, however there was a translation in the back of the binding..."

"What did it say?" sighed the taiyoukai. He did not care to know what the book might have looked like. He wanted to know if there was any helpful information inside of it.

"Eh?! An ancient buddhist text, I believe, Sesshoumaru-sama..." Jaken squeaked apologetically, taking a step backward, as if the tale he had to tell would not please his master. "It said a soul-bond is not a voluntary choice, it is due to actions in a past life. A soul-bond means that two individuals reincarnate together, time after time, miserably bound and obligated to one another, always striving to meet without necessarily being able to... It sounded like a very bad idea."

Casually, the taiyoukai nodded. Perhaps this was the text that his mother had read from, when she formed her own negative opinions about soul-bonds. But that did not mean it was any more likely to be accurate. And he did not wish to return home to verify this book's contents.

In the end, all of it was interesting but completely unhelpful.

What would it mean to be soul-bonded to someone, with the Tenseiga as a center-pin? According to Totosai's description of the sword he had created, it existed outside of time. It was eternal. If Kagome's soul had been placed inside the sword, then did that make her soul eternal too? And what would that mean for her body? Humans supposedly reincarnated each time they died, in any case. Perhaps it would make no difference at all.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Sesshoumaru tilted his head to one side. No, no. It was no good. He still had to talk to her. And he did not have any more answers than earlier.

As he instructed Jaken to return the scrolls, the dog-demon watched his retainer leave. Then, he realized that he was absentmindedly _fidgeting_ with his sleeves. For heaven's sake, he was picking up the girl's mannerisms, not only her emotional state! Sesshoumaru instantly stopped, appalled.

The priestess was no longer in the village, it seemed. She was a short distance away, splashing about in stagnant, cold water. Because it would be rude to interrupt a lady in the bath, Sesshoumaru decided that he could wait. Indeed, he welcomed it. This would allow him more time to think of what he should say.

But when the sun rose, higher and higher into the sky, the taiyoukai slowly grew impatient. Kagome's emotional state seemed to be worsening, with each passing second, as well. She had begun the day with purpose and excitement, yet now she felt bitter and despondent and frustrated.

It was not until he smelled the young lady's tears that he stepped forward, however, immediately abandoning his post in the forest to find her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The way that Inuyasha followed her around, it was growing steadily more aggravating. Wanting to spend time with someone, this was a good thing. But wanting to spend every waking second with her? That was overwhelming.

She had absolutely no privacy, unless she was bathing. "Bath-time" had been established as a boundary line, a long time ago. Thus, Kagome found herself bathing for a very, very long time today.

It was ridiculous behavior, of course. She had been sitting in a cold pool of water, until she was shivering violently and her fingers were all wrinkled and prune-like. Why? For no other reason than she appreciated the silence.

And that annoyed her too. Since when did she appreciate silence, more than friends?

Growling softly in the back of her throat, she emerged from the pool and wrapped herself in a nice warm towel. And then another... She clutched the fabric around her form as she kneeled down on the ground.

The towels were old and worn looking, because they were items that she had brought into the past. She had always enjoyed bathing with Sango, as they traveled and searched for Naraku. So, she had gifted her best friend with a set of bright colored, fluffy towels once. And she had been allowed to borrow them today. In fact, Sango had been so eager to loan the towels that the taijiya had appeared horrified when she asked first.

Fingering the faded fabric between two fingers, Kagome felt tears welling up and sniffled miserably. She remembered buying this pair of towels in the future. They had been puffy and pink, once. Now, they were not. Obviously, in the past three years, the rugged, burly cloth had been used often. Yet Sango had taken great care not to tear or stain the fabric. And this made the miko sad too. She did not deserve such good friends.

Two tiny tears escaped from her eyes, and Kagome furiously rubbed them away. Two more took their place.

When she had been trapped inside of the Meidou Zangetsuha, the Shikon no Tama had kept her alive. Eventually, Kagome had realized that the only wish she could make - the 'right' wish - it was to destroy the Jewel. In return, the stone had prevented her from taking action, by trapping her inside of a dream.

She had imagined Inuyasha approached her in the darkness, however impossible that might have been. Then, she had imagined going home, rejoining her family, finishing high school, returning to the past, seeing Sango and Miroku married... Ironically, the vision she had seen _then_ - it almost matched the reality in which she lived _now_.

It did not feel like she had lost three years worth of time, because she had "lived" for three years in a false reality the Shikon no Tama created around her. But there were many subtle differences between her memory, and the world she stood within now. And whenever she ran across one of these small, minor changes, Kagome always paused for a moment, surprised by the difference. It made her feel as if her mind was unreliable.

How could she have dreamed about the future so accurately, missing only tiny details? It seemed the Shikon no Tama had granted her a truthful vision of the future. Perhaps this was one of its powers too, previously unknown.

Not that it mattered now, in any case. The Jewel of Four Souls was gone. It was not like she could wish to go home and see her family once more. That would have been a selfish wish, in any case.

"Remaining in cold water too long is unhealthy for humans," a somber, dark tone informed her.

Kagome spun around with a shriek. Sesshoumaru was standing at the foot of the rocky overhang above the pool, no more than ten strides away. It was the same location in which she had once subdued Inuyasha for spying on her while she bathed. In this very pool, no less!

"What are you doing?!" she said, scrambling to gather her clothing. Kaede had kindly provided her with the red and white garb of a priestess.

"And evidently, it causes humans to leak water, when they finally emerge."

Blinking slowly, she stared at the taiyoukai over one shoulder. Shock began to burn away, transforming into cold fury. Exactly how long had he stood there, nonchalantly, watching her? How incredibly rude. Furthermore, it sounded like he was criticizing her for crying. Crying! Stupid youkai - not knowing he was supposed to comfort crying girls rather than mock them!

"Do you generally watch while ladies get dressed?" she bit out, clutching the red and white clothing to her chest. "I had not thought you were..."

"Is covering oneself with fabric not the same as being 'dressed'?" interrupted the white-haired demon. His placid tone infuriated her, and it felt good. At least she was not thinking about her family's shrine or the future any more.

A flash of humor interrupted her irritation, and Kagome's hands clenched spasmodically in the cloth that she had lifted. Humor? What was funny...

Oh! That did it! He was not even trying to be serious, he was joking with her about her towel-wrap. Clothing- hah!

Before it dawned on her how amusing their conversation actually _was_, she huffed and swiveled in place. "Turn around!" Kagome insisted.

Sesshoumaru complied.

Afterward, he followed her as she marched toward the village. And for some reason, her anger bled away, just by being around him. Rolling her eyes, Kagome decided that a dog-demon did not understand the difference between clothing and towels. Perhaps he thought that humans generally wore towel-wraps, instead of regular garments, when they lived in impoverished villages. No, it was not true, but the lie allowed her to talk to him calmly.

"Was there something that you wished to say, Sesshoumaru?"

Breathing softly, he tried to detect whether his half-brother was coming this way. Luckily, Inuyasha had not noticed that Kagome finished her bath. He could not smell the hanyou anywhere nearby.

"You know part of what occurred in the Lands of the Dead," began the dog-demon, regally. "But not all."

Kagome trailed to a halt and faced her companion, patiently waiting for further explanation. Sesshoumaru found it hard to speak to her, when she gazed at him with such a doe-like expression. Her eyes seemed impossibly blue and innocent.

As if she could feel his hesitation - which for that matter she probably could - Kagome prompted him to continue. "I also heard what happened after I fired my arrow." Then, she smiled. "Killing all of the demons inside of the Shikon no Tama, that is something to be proud of! Your actions were very noble. Thank you for rescuing me."

A bloom of warmth expanded within his chest, and Sesshoumaru firmly told himself it was _her_ emotion, not his. He had no reason to feel pleased by meaningless flattery. He had simply done what was necessary.

"It is possible that there may be... lasting effects... after your soul inhabited the Tenseiga," he spoke again. "According to my mother, when you allowed me to borrow your spirit, this created a different type of bond between us. And I believe that when I returned your soul, it completed the bond."

Her smile faded. Looking down at her toes, Kagome scuffed one foot in the dirt. Because her school loafers looked strange beneath the outfit of a feudal-age priestess, she had started wearing traditional tabi and zori. It was less comfortable, but it helpfully distracted her during weird conversations like this. What on earth was Sesshoumaru talking about? It had to be something bad, if it could make the Lord of the Western Lands uncomfortable.

And how did she know that he felt uncomfortable, in the first place? Glancing up again, she watched his face for some sign of expression. "You mean, other than the blood-bond that we created?"

"Yes," Sesshoumaru replied. "A bond of souls."

His abrupt, direct manner of relaying information actually made things easier. "Okay..." Kagome murmured. "Well... thanks for telling me. What does that do?"

"It is unknown how a soul-bond operates," the taiyoukai pronounced gravely. But deep down, he was surprised by how easily this dialogue was proceeding. He had expected it to be difficult. Perhaps he was keeping her calm, by staying calm himself. Or perhaps the priestess had never heard of such a bond before, so she was not frightened or appalled like his mother had been. "This one believes we must discover facets of the relationship as time passes. And perhaps document them, for posterity's sake."

Wide-eyed, Kagome smothered a giggle. It was cute, she decided, the way he spoke in such a stern, forbidding tone. As if she might protest and interrupt otherwise. All in all, he seemed more troubled by the idea than she was.

"The most obvious conclusion," continued Sesshoumaru, "Is that a soul-bond allows individuals to sense each other's emotions and health. For instance, you felt my emotional state beside the pool, even through your anger."

"Wait," she said, "That was you?" Before she dressed, he had told her... and then she had felt amusement... It had been completely at odds with her own feelings, so she knew exactly what he was referring to. Moreover, she had been feeling remarkably antisocial for the last few days. Rationalizing it was probably his fault, Kagome defiantly crossed her arms over her chest.

A small breeze lifted a few strands of silvery white hair on Sesshoumaru's head, as he regarded her. As usual, though, his expression remained studiously blank. And although the situation was ripe for an argument, when she opened her mouth, Kagome remembered exactly who she was speaking with and what his words meant.

Inuyasha's elder brother was an extremely private person. If the taiyoukai could admit to feeling her emotions, and that she might know his as well... it must be awful for him. The small amount of ire that she had managed to work up against him, it instantly dissolved again.

"Oh," she mouthed, frowning slightly. "Um... I'm sorry." Next, hoping to show sympathy, she smiled yet again. He had said the blood-bond was impermanent, so she assumed this one was too. "I hope it wears off, right away."

He recoiled and she felt a thread of dismay sneak into the conversation, where none had been before. No, not just dismay. It hardened into insult. Like the humor beside her bathing pool, she instantly recognized this as his feeling, not hers. His voice remained steady, though. "This Sesshoumaru is unaware of a method for breaking the bond."

"Oh, I'm... sorry," she mumbled again, unsure what else to say. "Is there a reason why you have to tell me about the bond? Er... Something I can do to make it easier?"

Naturally, her sympathy was utterly wasted upon the white-haired dog-demon. Perhaps he did not even pick up on it. Kagome wished she understood exactly why her words had insulted him.

"This Sesshoumaru has been told that 'lives and lifetimes are shared' when souls are," he said, his words sounding distinctly stuffy by now. The more annoyed he felt, the more convoluted his sentences became. "Obviously, it was necessary to inform both parties of such a development."

And immediately, Kagome came to the same conclusion that he had. The idea of her being 'immortal' was so far-fetched and impossible that she could not even grasp it. Instead, she focused on the downside of the equation for Sesshoumaru. He must be _appalled_ by the thought of his own life being tied to that of a helpless mortal.

Of course, apologizing again would not help. Kagome took a breath, but she could not think of anything to say and eventually surrendered. There was nothing she could do to comfort him, except perhaps... to reassure him her life would be as long as possible? They did not need to worry about what a soul-bond meant for a long, long time yet. Not for years and years! Although those years might seem like chicken-scratch to such a long lived immortal...

"I promise to be very careful!" she vowed, holding up one hand. "And your brother has gotten a bit more powerful in the last year... At least you know I will be well-guarded? Don't worry, we can find a way to undo the bond!"

Rage flooded her, shocking her into silence. The feeling quickly dampened and dispersed, but she clearly felt it. And she knew how horribly she had just upset him, although she did not know why. Well... all right, perhaps she could guess. Sesshoumaru never liked to talk about Inuyasha, and vice-versa. She was terrible at comforting a person as prickly as this one.

He turned and began to walk away, down the hillside toward rice paddies outside the village. "Sesshoumaru..." Kagome blurted out, hands reaching toward his back, then falling at her side again. "No... I... Wait!"

He did not pause. "Are you leaving?" she inquired helplessly, fishing around for something to make him stay. "Rin will..."

"The Western Lands have lain virtually unattended for the last three years," snapped the taiyoukai, as he departed. "Naturally, a great number of youkai must be dispatched. And Rin will need a new kimono, nothing else."

"Really, I am sorry!" she called after him. But she was unable to encourage Sesshoumaru to wait. All of her efforts only hardened his resolve.


	12. Perfect Healing

Author's Note: Chapter dedicated to **Alyson Metallium** for being my 100th reviewer!!! Also, for complimenting my icon... Because of this, I finally put a slightly larger version of the art online, after creating a DeviantArt page. No, my art is not very good. Yes, it has a watermark over it, because I'm paranoid. I drew the picture for a scene in "The Challenge Posed." So, anyway...

I hope this chapter is not too bizarre. It drifted pretty far astream. Please review and let me know, if it went too far.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 12: Perfect Healing**

_Oh Sesshoumaru! I hope we can undo the soul-bond, right away!_ Kagome's words echoed through his mind, once more. Each time the words circled through his thoughts, she sounded more insincere. It was easy to imagine stormy blue eyes, simpering at him, in a parody of comfort and encouragement. Before long, her original words began to vanish, and his mind rehearsed comments that she never made. _Don't worry! Your half-brother will protect me instead of you. Isn't it wonderful? He is so much more powerful than you now..._

All right. All right. This was not precisely what she said. Yet this was what she implied. Sesshoumaru was extremely frustrated, both with the priestess and himself. He felt more than justified for stalking off after their conversation. First she had been eager to _break_ their bond. Then, she had tried to reassure him by stating that _Inuyasha_ would protect her. In what way was that suggestion reassuring? It was insulting.

Worst of all, he had been able to tell that she did not mean any harm. Thus, he had been completely unable to be angry with her. Kagome had honestly been trying to comfort him, by stating he should not worry about her safety, because his half-brother, the mongrel, the reckless idiot, would take such good care of her without anyone else's assistance. It was enough to make his blood boil.

If they were bonded, then _he_ was the one who should...

Damn it. His father had warned him once that he needed something to 'protect' before he could become a truly superb warrior. Sesshoumaru had been unable to understand his father's demand, for the longest time. After Rin and Kagura and Kagome, he started to comprehend it. But at the moment, he felt jealous, not _protective_. Was this what his father had been trying to convey as an important lesson? Surely not.

Disgusted by his own feelings, the taiyoukai tried to focus on the countryside around him instead. Fortunately, the Western Lands had not undergone significant changes in the past three years. Like before, not much maintenance was necessary. Patrolling the borders, he kept any violent, rogue youkai from encroaching. Unfortunately, the human population had skyrocketed in the last few years. Well, perhaps it had taken more than a few years. He had noticed their numbers increasing for a while now. The last three years seemed especially influential, though. A powerful warlord had taken control of the area, and ironically, the number of battles and skirmishes had dropped, because this man was interested in ruthlessly consolidating power, not allowing possible enemies to survive. Also, this leader in Kyoto had decided to destroy several local Buddhist sects. These militant Buddhist priests had been annoying Sesshoumaru for quite some time, so he was glad to know a human leader was willing to extinguish their influence on the political sector. Next time he killed an aggravating, youkai-hating priest, perhaps it would make him look more reasonable in the eyes of others. And there would be fewer priests and monks to incite fear in the commoners, against youkai.

Still, the last few days had been utterly boring. All he had to do was... exactly what he had always done. Wander around, annihilating unwanted demons that caused too much trouble in the area. Everything else ran itself. It was almost sad, the way the Western Lands had survived without him. Yet a house that was well-built did not fall apart due to the passage of time. His mother took care of the financial side of things. As well as almost everything else. Maybe he should not have spent so much of his youth aimlessly wandering the countryside, training and trying to improve his strength. What was the point in being strong, if there was no one to fight, because the political rulers never fought an outright war? Not that he wanted a war to break out...

Naturally, the more he searched for something to distract himself from Kagome, the less he could drag his mind away from the topic. For instance, that morning as he walked by a chain of rice-paddies, he overheard laughter in the fields. There had been a small dispute between two farmers, but a woman had settled the issue with a merry, ringing laugh, and he had frozen, immobile on the outskirts of the woods, listening to the sound. The woman did not _look_ or _smell_ much like Kagome, but their voices sounded similar, and it was enough to make him stop and notice her. In the same way, he sometimes noticed young girls around Rin's age - although they were unimportant in the grand scheme of things, his attention span had broadened. He could not go back to being the person that he had been before.

Once there were no more demons to fight, he circled the area again, slowly making his way back toward his half-brother's village. This did not mean that he was _returning_ to the village, no. Simply that he could tell if he was heading in her direction or not. Another bad sign.

Kagome belonged to his half-brother. The only reason he had rescued her was to defy Naraku's will. But along the way he had become tied to her, in more ways than one, and now it upset him when he thought of the priestess with Inuyasha. People who endured a blood-bond or a soul-bond, they were deeply connected, right? But it seemed the hanyou could still come between them. After all, the only reason the priestess had agreed to his suggestion in the underworld, it was to save her life. Because she thought a blood-bond was temporary. She did not want to be tied to him forever. She had said as much.

Of course, there was nothing he could do about it at this point. All he could do was to barricade his heart and try very hard not to pay attention to any emotions he felt drifting through the bond, coming from Kagome. There was no need to know how pleased she felt about staying with Inuyasha. Apparently, the priestess had gained a bit of control, as well. After he told her about the possibility of shared emotions, she had studiously walled off access to her emotional state too. It was not too bad. At the moment, he felt almost like himself again, except for the piece of him that was... missing, somehow. But anger felt better than emptiness, so he clung to it, letting it curl comfortably around his heart.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" From behind came the pitter patter of tiny webbed feet. Jaken was breathlessly panting as he covered the ground between them. He must have returned the papers and scrolls he had borrowed from the Western palace. "Sesshoumaru-sama! You were not in the village, so I asked the others where you had gone, and it has taken many days to catch up to you. I am sorry for not traveling more quickly, my lord!"

With a slight grimace, the taiyoukai chose not to reply. He had not missed having a sycophant companion for a few days. Worse, it made him think of Kagome (again), when the kappa mentioned returning to the village where Inuyasha lived.

He stared at the tiny green demon, unappreciatively. Finally, Jaken reached his spot on the road, and then slumped over, leaning on the staff he carried while breathing heavily. "It was a close thing, too - the hanyou and the priestess were leaving on a journey, right when I approached. If I had not, then I would be even farther behind... not that the half-demon's nose is as keen as your own, m'lord, of course... simply that..."

"Journey?" Sesshoumaru asked blandly, as if he was not interested at all.

"Yes, the demon-slayer, the monk, and the half-demon are often asked to perform exorcisms," agreed Jaken brightly. "It seems the priestess has recovered enough to join the team. She seemed ill after traveling so long in another world, you remember. But you were not afflicted by the journey, were you, Sesshoumaru-sama? Not that I think..."

Tuning out the endless stream of babble, the dog-demon turned away from Jaken. The kappa would simply speak for a while, and he would fall silent, when he eventually realized that his master did not reply. The little green demon needed to verbally express his relief upon finding Sesshoumaru, because he had believed the taiyoukai was dead for three years. Excessive, flowery speeches were a result of being away from him for so long, Sesshoumaru thought.

Meanwhile, he would have plenty of time to consider his newest dilemma. Inuyasha and Kagome. According to Kagome, the hanyou would guard her. But it still seemed unreasonable to place her in perilous situations. From what he could remember of his stupid brother's swordsmanship, this news made him very uneasy. Purposefully forcing the priestess into danger, facing demons, when he might not be the best defender... what was Inuyasha thinking? Obviously, he was not.

He was not concerned. Kagome had skill. She was not the sort of person to lay down and die in front of an enemy, without a struggle. Even if Inuyasha was incompetent. Which he was. Not that it mattered to him in the slightest. For one dizzying moment, he almost believed the lie, but soon he could not help noticing the direction in which he was traveling. Despite the fact that he had crossed the border of the Western territory, he was still heading toward the village that housed his half-brother's companions. And he was checking for traces of her scent on the breeze.

He would merely ensure her safety, Sesshoumaru thought. It was his responsibility; their lives were bonded. He could not leave the outcome completely up to fate, or in the hands of his half-brother.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"We'd get there faster," grumbled Inuyasha from ahead of her. He was acting surly. Arms crossed, the hanyou refused to look at her. "Don't see why it is a big deal, it was fine..."

"Before. I know." Never honestly explaining it, she tried to clarify her response. "But I feel like walking today."

The road stretched out before them, and she knew that he did not believe it. As the half-demon pointed out, riding piggy-back did not usually bother her. But in her opinion, it only occurred when the group was hurrying to arrive somewhere. Like when they were chasing Naraku. The current mission involved an infestation of low-level demons in a nearby town. There was no need to hurry, because the message had taken a long time to reach them. The youkai would not wreak more harm in the next few days, than they did in the past few months.

The real reason she did not accept the piggy-back ride, however, was that she did not want to snuggle with Inuyasha. He was being annoying. And as if he detected the change in her emotional state, he kept pressing the issue, staying close by her side. It was driving her nuts. She might blame her newly anti-social tendencies on the taiyoukai, but it did not change the way she felt. So, she wanted to walk. She was quite capable of walking!

After speaking with Sesshoumaru, she had returned to the village and informed the others of Sesshoumaru's departure. Rin had been extremely disappointed. Jaken was gone, while Rin had been forsaken in a human village, yet again, by her precious father-figure. True, she spent years under Kaede's tutelage. But she absolutely hated the fact that Sesshoumaru had returned to the world of the living, then departed without a word of goodbye.

Although Kagome was not as distressed as Rin, she felt terrible for chasing away the white-haired youkai. Even if they only spent three days together in the underworld, it seemed like more. Almost like her soul could remember aging for three years, while her mind did not. And once the dog-demon had vanished, the color had washed out of her world. It felt empty, dull, and gray. Was this the result of a soul-bond being stretched too thin? Maybe it was simply that she felt guilty about saying something to upset him? She wanted to understand what she had done wrong.

Furthermore, she had the same problem as earlier. Kagome wanted to act positive toward her friends. Especially Rin, since the young girl idolized Sesshoumaru. So, the priestess wore her calmest, happiest expression, while comforting Rin. And she purposefully downplayed the significance of the dialogue with Sesshoumaru. But her subterfuge did not fix anything. The Bone Eater's Well was still closed. She still felt slightly like an outsider, in a group of friends once tightly knit, because of the passage of years. She still hated the fact that Sesshoumaru left without fully explaining their bond, that she had made him angry somehow...

Gradually, her temper had frayed underneath the pressure. Escaping the confines of Miroku and Sango's hut one evening, she had rested on the slopes angling away from the village into Inuyasha's forest. There, crossing her legs, she had meditated. Carefully using her powers to build a barrier between herself and Sesshoumaru, she had regained an inner calm. No matter how far away the taiyoukai traveled, she could feel him like an itch at the back of her mind. But since he seemed to be able to suppress his feelings, she would do the same. It would be less annoying for both of them. The tranquility she rediscovered that evening was laced with apathy - a feeling of emptiness that she stubbornly ignored. She did not _miss_ him. He had refused to listen to her and walked away. For heaven's sake, if they had an emotional 'bond' of sorts, then why couldn't he pick up on her situation too?

Inuyasha and Miroku were not blind. They both had picked up on her subtle signs of distress. But the one she usually conversed with was Sango, and her best friend was focused on a newborn baby. This was part of why Kagome tried so hard to remain happy around the others. The boy was only a few days old and required lots of attention.

In the end, when a visitor requested the services of demon-slayers, she had jumped at the chance to join the trip. She took Miroku's place on this journey, allowing him to stay home with his newest family member.

Then, the pair had encountered Jaken. At first, Kagome had been ridiculously pleased to see him scurrying back to the village. She thought it meant Sesshoumaru was not angry anymore, and he was returning to discuss the situation rationally. But no. Unfortunately, the kappa had no idea where his lord and master might be. Jaken only sought directions from a half-demon's sensitive nose.

Afterward, Kagome was practically beside herself with frustration. Not that she had any good reason for feeling so distressed. It was Sesshoumaru's business where he went, and when. Still, it was aggravating how much she wanted to see him again, considering how abruptly he had left.

Only one more day of travel, and they would be at their destination. As she prepared a fire, Inuyasha helpfully hunted down a rabbit to eat. He cleaned it, she set it over the flames, and they both relaxed, content to watch supper cooking. It felt a little bit like their very earliest days of traveling together, before Shippo had joined the group. _Hah! That was a long time ago_, Kagome thought. _We've all changed so much since then._

After watching the rabbit for a minute or two, Inuyasha sighed. "I miss ramen," the hanyou noted sadly.

Kagome wrapped her arms around her legs. "Me too."

The half-demon began to fidget. It would not take much longer for the meat to cook, but she could almost sense anticipation pouring off of her companion in waves. Then, Inuyasha slowly moved around the fire to sit beside her. Kagome stared at him in puzzlement.

As it turned out, his impatience had nothing to do with the food. Strangely enough, _she_ seemed to be the source of his trouble. One ear trained upon her form, Inuyasha plucked at the hem of his sleeves.

"Is everything...okay?" she asked at last, unable to stand the suspense.

Turning his head, white hair slid forward over his shoulders, as Inuyasha leaned forward to rest on his hands. He peered at her intently, and Kagome blinked. Then, the half-demon leaned even farther into her personal space, and she scooted to the side, trying to give him more room.

"What are you doing?" It seemed like a reasonable question. It had been a while since she traveled with only one other person in the party. But there was plenty of space around the campfire, so why would he need to sit right next to her, and lean toward... her... Oh. Oh, right. Wow. Hmm.

"... kiss you." It sounded like there was a frog in his throat, when Inuyasha finally managed to reply. She didn't hear most of the words either. It didn't matter though. Kagome had already figured out the answer by then.

Both of them blushed. Flustered and self-conscious, she glanced at their dinner, at tree branches, anywhere but at her friend. "I see."

This was not supposed to be so embarrassing, was it? She had waited forever to hear something like this, from Inuyasha. All the years he had spent chasing after Kikyou, she would have been more than happy to receive a kiss from her hanyou guardian. At the moment, however, it was the last thing on her mind.

"Just hold still, okay?" he instructed her.

She sputtered incoherently, desperately trying to protest this behavior without protesting _too_ strongly, which would hurt his feelings. And hurting his feelings would be bad, because she still liked Inuyasha, didn't she? But she didn't want to... Oh. This was _so_ embarrassing.

Holding very still, like a deer that had just realized it was being hunted, she froze up. When he took her face in his hands, though, she shifted uncomfortably. "Not right now."

Inuyasha's face fell, and he sat down again. His ears told a crystal-clear story, laid flat against his skull.

"Sorry," she soothed gently. "I can't bring myself to... Now's not a good time." Honestly, part of her wanted to kiss Inuyasha, just for the novelty of it, while the other half of her was totally unnerved by the idea, recoiling from it like a blow. She wondered what this said about her mental state, and whether she could blame this on Sesshoumaru too.

"Keh," scoffed Inuyasha halfheartedly. "Just testing something."

Naturally, this mystified her even more. "Testing what?"

"I hope," he continued forlornly, "We can still be friends." Once again, her companion was picking at his sleeves.

"Of course, we are friends!" Kagome protested immediately. Wide-eyed, she shook her head. If this was how he responded to rejection, then perhaps she should allow him to kiss her. She was not trying to make anyone miserable. "Inuyasha! Don't say weird things like that. Of course, we'll always be friends!"

He didn't answer. But it looked like he understood what she meant, even better than she did. A tiny smile flickered over his mouth, as he huffed and stared at the fire.

"You always have a way of finding trouble," he mused. Then, the smile grew. "Remember Shishinki? The first thing he did, upon seeing you, it was to attack you. Demon doesn't know who you were, and he doesn't care about the rest of us, but he stops in the middle of a battle with _ Sesshoumaru_ just to antagonize you." The careful emphasis her friend placed on his brother's name amused her.

Nodding to show she remembered that fight, she returned to her earlier position. It did seem odd that Sesshoumaru met up with Shishinki again, in another world. They all thought he had been defeated the first time, yet to hear the inu-youkai explain it, Shishinki had evidently outsmarted his enemies, one last time. Perhaps that was why Inuyasha chose this particular demon for an example of her talent at trouble-finding.

"What else did you two talk about?" the hanyou said bluntly, removing their food from the fire and dividing it into pieces.

Suddenly lost, she accepted a chunk of meat from the half-demon, as she contemplated what he might be asking. "You mean, what else did Sesshoumaru say?"

"Yea," Inuyasha interrupted gruffly. "You only explained that he's leavin' to buy a kimono and 'attend' to the Western Lands, whatever that means. What else happened?"

The blush that had gracefully receded from her cheeks started to return now. "What makes you think that..."

He did not allow her to attempt to deflect the question. Persistently, Inuyasha nudged her in the right direction. "Because you've been upset for days, and you keep looking over your shoulder like you can feel him or something."

Clearly, the hanyou had become more adept at reading other people's expressions over the years. Perhaps Miroku had influenced him, teaching Inuyasha how to ask pointed questions. When Miroku's tendency to ask intelligent questions combined with Inuyasha's tendency to never accept 'no' for an answer, she knew she could not avoid the issue. Really though, she had wanted to avoid this discussion for as long as possible.

With a sigh, she relented and began to explain about the soul-bond.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Stop!" shrieked Kagome. "Inuyasha! You're going to destroy the house."

The instant they had arrived in the village, her companion had become far too excited about battling youkai. It was supposed to be a simple job. Low-level demons, a type of insect, had crowded into the largest family home in town. Youkai regularly crawled from beneath the floorboards, mangled the woodwork, and generally made a mess of the place. But it was not until the family's youngest child disappeared that anyone called for demon-slayers.

Naturally, this was the first time Inuyasha had fought using the Tessaiga, since his elder brother had returned from the underworld. His glee was understandable, but it was causing more problems than it solved. Inuyasha had used the Kaze no Kizu three times already. Not much of the outer yard was in one piece. Giant trenches in the earth made it seem like the ground had been plowed in three different directions.

Moreover, it seemed that Inuyasha was delaying the completion of their errand. He _could_ have killed all the demonic ants, right from the start. Yet strutting from one edge of the house to the other, he annihilated the bugs, one at a time. It baffled Kagome.

"Inuyasha!" she called out again, sensing another burst of youki from the blade he carried. "If you don't finish them off quickly, then I'll say the word."

Amber colored eyes swiveled nervously toward her. "Aww, Kagome," whined the hanyou. "I'm almost done. Why don't you finish the ones outside? They'll flee into other people's homes."

Rubbing the bridge of her nose and calling on the gods for patience, she heard the frightened villagers speaking behind their backs. They were happy to know someone could handle this demon infestation. On the other hand, they were distressed that it took so long. And that the young man's sword was so destructive...

It was almost funny, she thought. How many times had Miroku invented imaginary demons to attack, in order to acquire a nice room to sleep in overnight? Nowadays, they did not need a place to stay the night, and the demons they had been asked to fight were real. Still, the ant-like youkai were so weak that it was difficult to take this assignment seriously.

"All right." As she agreed, the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Without even looking, she could sense his grin. Giving into Inuyasha's demands was probably a bad idea. "Five more minutes. Don't destroy the house. Eh... More than you already did."

Next, throwing her hands up in the air, she strolled outside and fired at the youkai fleeing from the area. Purified arrows easily destroyed them. However, it took a while to completely end the infestation, since they were not intelligent demons, and the ants fled in absolutely every direction.

Screams of terror drew her attention to one side. A group of young girls were hustling down the street, wailing about the demons that were chasing them. Kagome rolled her eyes. The youkai were not chasing anyone. Seriously, they had the intelligence-level of an _insect_... Demon-ants did not seem any brighter than their normal cousins.

Adjusting the strap to the quiver over her shoulder, Kagome marched toward the newest bunch of upset villagers. As a huge crunching noise met her ears, however, she broke into a run. Whipping around the corner of the storehouse, where the frightened girls were gathered, she followed their gaze to see a giant youkai, splintering the wood beneath its feet and chewing on it with its mandibles. Sucking a sharp breath through her teeth, Kagome drew another arrow.

Evidently, the youkai-ants had a 'queen' that they had not encountered until now. As she took aim through the smoky haze this giant insect caused by breaking the side of a storehouse, she instructed the people behind her to hide. A hum of activity was her only sign that they had complied. She did not dare to look away from the demon until she knew she would hit the target.

Finally, the dust settled, and the massive ant-demon showed clearly. It appeared to be watching her, as closely as she was watching it. Frowning, Kagome released her arrow, and it whistled through the air... only to smash into a piece of lumber with a subdued _thunk_. The demon chewing on the storehouse, it stood unharmed. It had rotated its head in a perfect half-circle, positioning a wooden fragment directly above to block the arrow.

She gaped. It continued to chew. But when Kagome grabbed another arrow out of the quiver, the queen of the demonic ants pulled back, hissing angrily.

All the wood, which it had been mashing into bits, served a purpose now. The youkai started spitting out slivers of wood at high speed, aiming for Kagome. And because ant-demons, like regular ants, did not have lungs, the creature did not even need to exhale. The attack simply began without a moment's notice.

With a gasp, she tried to aim at the threat. But there was no time. Pinpricks of pain stabbed into her arms, legs, her torso, causing her to cry out as she fired the arrow. It missed widely.

Her scream quickly called to Inuyasha. Luckily, he had listened, when she warned him not to postpone the job any longer, simply because he enjoyed using the Tessaiga for the first time in years. After terminating the rest of the small-fry demonic-ants inside, he had followed her. And just in the nick of time, she heard him shout at the largest demon, the queen of the ants. A blast of wind ended the fight, once and for all.

Never even glancing up, Kagome whimpered pitifully. She could not look away from her body. Hundreds of splinters had punctured her skin, and it seemed like blood was oozing from every pore. She looked like a life-sized pincushion. She felt like one too.

"Kagome!" came a familiar voice, drenched with concern. "Kagome! No! You can't be..." Dazed, the hanyou could not seem to finish a sentence. He fluttered back and forth, sheathing his sword, then holding out his hands and withdrawing them before touching her.

The very act of breathing hurt, because it shifted her skin. Shaking her head, the priestess tried to focus. Obviously, she would need assistance to remove all the splinters. At the moment, she could barely move her hands, because her arms had been impaled with fragments of wood. It was hard to clench her fingers.

"Inuyasha," she wheezed, slightly amazed by the level of agony she felt. Serious injuries usually wiped out all the pain receptors in her nervous system, so in a way, it was _good_ she could feel so much pain. But that did not make her happy about it. "Need to pull... the wood out of my hands."

"Kagome," the white-haired boy moaned, moving forward to complete her instructions. "I'm sorry. Should have gotten out sooner... I... "

"It's fine." Her reassurance was sincere, spoken through tightly clenched teeth. "The wounds are shallow."

The first few slivers of wood emerged, and Inuyasha dropped them on the ground, moving up to her forearm. But it was not until Kagome flexed her hand that she noticed the difference. The skin was completely healed. Soon, Inuyasha realized it too. As he removed sharp splinters and fragments of wood from her flesh, he sniffed gently, running one hand over the smooth skin that remained.

Simultaneously, their eyes met in wonder. Kagome quickly joined her friend in his quest to remove all foreign objects from her flesh. It hurt when they pulled out the wood, but the moment tiny splinters left her skin, she healed, as if she had never been harmed.

"I don't understand," Inuyasha said, gently working on the splinters in her legs, now.

"Neither do I," murmured Kagome reverently. "Neither do I."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

One more pass around the campsite, and once more Sesshoumaru failed to reveal himself to the other two. He could faintly hear Kagome and Inuyasha speaking in the distance. However, since there was no breeze, his kin had not sensed him yet. It was just as well, because he felt distinctly nervous.

In her excitement, the priestess had forgotten to maintain the barrier around her emotions. Restlessness and confusion struggled for supremacy inside of her, pouring through their bond into Sesshoumaru. He did not mind. It was a welcome change from what he had been feeling all day without her input.

Perhaps his nervousness and her own were feeding off each other, though. He could hear Kagome telling his half-brother all about their soul-bond. She did not know much about it, because no one really did. But she had shared every pertinent fact, and now they were discussing theories about how to use it in battle. Well, to be honest, only Inuyasha was offering such ridiculous remarks.

"I don't know," continued the priestess adamantly, "He didn't say much more. Just that the bond is unbreakable, and we share our lifetimes, and we can sense each other's emotions and health. That sort of thing. He said it was a lasting effect of my soul inhabiting the Tenseiga, for a little while."

"So, the bastard's sword heals you automatically, from far away?"

"No, the closest approximation that I can imagine is..." the girl pondered, one finger on her chin. "It's like I am a living embodiment of Tenseiga. Totosai told you both that it is stuck outside of time. So, maybe I am too?"

"Gah!" Inuyasha cried out, "That makes no sense. Don't jump into fights just to test whether you're immortal or not."

A giggle was her only reply. In the background, far through the trees, Sesshoumaru clenched a fist. Evidently, she had been injured in a fight earlier. It was exactly as he had feared; Inuyasha was not a sufficient guardian for the miko. But rather than criticizing the hanyou for failing to protect her, she was laughing with him. They were happy, unreasonably happy, because she had been magically healed at the end of the battle.

As if paltry insect-youkai should be able to hurt either one of them. Even when he condemned Inuyasha's sword skills, he had always believed the mutt had adequate strength to defeat minor, low-level youkai. If it was not so, then he should have returned faster.

"I'm not saying I'm immortal." The protest nearly died on the priestess's lips. She lifted one hand and pressed it against her chest. "It just feels sort of like... a crystal."

"What?"

"Er... my spiritual powers," she quickly explained, although the words did not shed any light on the conversation. "My spirit. It feels like the Shikon no Tama is back inside of me, now. Even though I know it is gone, I can remember what it felt like. And when I used my powers in the fight, it felt like drawing on the Shikon's power, like my soul had solidified into something more powerful than before... Does that make any sense?"

Inuyasha merely gave her a befuddled look. He was clearly unconvinced of her sanity. And from a distance, the elder brother was startled, when she mentioned the Shikon no Tama. Holding his breath, he thought of how unfortunate it would be if they had worked so hard to destroy the Jewel, only for it to return at the last instant.

Luckily, Kagome quickly clarified this was not what she had meant. But his surprise broke through the calm surface waters of his emotions, and the blue-eyed priestess immediately lifted her gaze, peering through the trees, trying to see him through the darkness. Smothering a sigh, Sesshoumaru realized he could not hide in the background any longer. He had to come forward to the campfire.

The moment that he entered the fringe of Inuyasha's senses, however, the hanyou leapt to his feet, one hand on his sword. "Oi!" called the half-demon, displeased to see him. "What are you doin' here?"

Calmly, the inu-youkai stepped into the light surrounding their campsite. A burst of happiness emerged from the priestess, and Sesshoumaru's train of thought immediately derailed to follow along after it. She was happy to see him? Why was that?

The miko stubbornly refused to show any trace of the emotion that she felt. Crossing her arms, she petulantly faced the fire again. "Did you come back to speak with me?" she inquired tartly. "About time. You missed out on all the _fun_ we had earlier."

Not dissuaded by her tone, Sesshoumaru quietly moved around the fire, until he was across from both his half-sibling and the priestess. Then, he peacefully took a seat, and Inuyasha lowered his guard as well. Ultimately, Sesshoumaru did not rush for anyone. So, he refused to be hurried by the miko's current childish behavior.

"Incorrect. I was immediately aware of it, when you were injured," he explained slowly, watching as she frowned, while at the same time she appeared a bit hopeful. It seemed that Kagome could not make up her mind, whether to be angry with him or not. "I felt the wounds, also."

She pouted slightly. "And the moment you felt that I had been injured, you returned?"

The words implied he was concerned with the miko's well-being and health. And he was. But not for the reasons she seemed to suspect. In truth, he had already started walking in her direction, even before he felt faint traces of a distant battle touch her skin.

He said nothing, merely examined her legs, bare beneath the outlandish green and white outfit that she always wore. Miniscule tears dotted the fabric, and blood had soaked into the fabric around each of the puncture wounds. Yet she looked completely healthy, right now. He could detect no injuries.

As if she could sense his thoughts, Kagome slid onto her knees and began to dig through the quiver of arrows she had packed, next to her bag. "Look!" she instructed him suddenly, holding up an arrow. "Watch this."

Gritting her teeth, the priestess inhaled deeply. It looked like she was fortifying herself for a difficult task. Then, without another word, she stabbed the back of her hand with the tip of the arrow.

Inuyasha roared, leaping onto his feet. "Kagome! What are you doing?!" Apparently, the hanyou had been as ignorant of her intentions as Sesshoumaru had been. Good.

A whimper slipped past her lips. Meanwhile, a blossom of pain spiked through the back of Sesshoumaru's palm, as well. He growled, threateningly.

But directly afterward, before anyone else could move, Kagome pulled the arrow tip away from her hand. The pain vanished, and a tiny flicker of purplish-pink light sparkled across her skin. As the wound instantly closed, the taiyoukai's eyes widened in momentary surprise.

Somehow, seeing it in action was much more impressive than overhearing Inuyasha and Kagome speak of it. She had acquired an amazing new power and ability. And it had to be related to their soul-bond, because nothing else had changed, nothing of significance, since the battle with Naraku.

The best explanation that Sesshoumaru could come up with mirrored one that Kagome had already invented. Perhaps having the Tenseiga as a center-pin for the bond between them, it did more than create a bond between two spirits. Somehow, it also allowed them both to share certain characteristics with the sword? As she had said, a 'living embodiment of Tenseiga' might be one way to describe it. It was as though the healing sword had mended her injury, while it happened.

This was astonishing news. But testing the boundaries of the ability might be difficult. Obviously, the Tenseiga could not defend against curses. And it could be broken. Perhaps Kagome would not be able to heal from wounds that he delivered, since he was the sword's original owner? All of these ideas seemed to require an unsavory amount of wounding and injuring, however. He did not really like the idea of testing this capability to its fullest extent.

"There, you see?" she chirped happily. "Isn't that cool?"

Blinking slowly, he declined to answer. Instead, he tested his own skin to see if it was as resilient as Kagome's. As he slid one claw into the underside of his arm, she gasped and gripped her own arm with the other hand.

Sadly, the wound did not heal any more quickly than usual. It seemed the ability that Kagome had developed, it was unique. Probably, it was because she was the only one whose soul had been contained _inside_ of the Tenseiga, for any amount of time, thereby acquiring some of the Tenseiga's abilities.

To one side, his half-brother flopped onto the dirt with a groan. "You've gotta be kidding me," he growled darkly. "Watching other people mutilate themselves does not appeal to me. Please stop. Both of you."


	13. Potential Energy

Author's Note: This story was supposed to end faster. But the ending refuses to be rushed. Sesshy, Kagome, and Inu-kun have to work through their issues.

**Shadowlands**

**Chapter 13: Potential Energy**

As they walked, the weather grew slightly worse with each step. Kagome saw a storm on the distant horizon, and gray skies over the landscape. It was probably raining on the village, she thought, because the clouds had long, diagonal streaks in them, backlit by the sun.

Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru didn't make the scene any brighter. The dog-demon and his half-brother walked in gloomy silence, and she felt like pulling her hair out in frustration. But at least, the taiyoukai was following them back to Kaede's village. There was a chance that he might linger long enough to work through their problems.

Although she wanted to discuss the situation with Sesshoumaru, Kagome could not bring herself to speak. It was awkward because of Inuyasha's presence, but even more so, because of... well... the white-haired dog-demon. He was like a silent wall of resistance, and she would embarrass herself by trying to get him to open up.

Eventually, though, it occurred to Kagome how much worse it would be to wait until they reached the village. Then, Miroku and Sango would be listeners as well. And Kaede and Rin. And she would have to explain the soul-bond all over again to a new audience. Just thinking about it was exhausting.

If she wanted to speak with Sesshoumaru, then right now was the best time. Procrastination never solved anything.

"So..." began the priestess, linking her hands behind her back and staring at the sky. "I was wondering..." No, no. That was not the right way to start this conversation. She tried again. "Er... I want to apologize! Because I made you angry, before you left. Unfortunately, I don't understand why. And I wish I did?"

A few meters ahead, Inuyasha winced. His stride slowed down, and one ear flicked back toward her, but it was obvious they all knew who she hoped to speak with. Sesshoumaru stopped moving when his half-brother did. However, he did not reply. He merely watched her out of the corner of one eye. Meanwhile, Kagome tried to interpret whether it was a glare or mere curiosity.

"Hypothetically speaking, that is," she floundered. Scratching the side of her nose uneasily, she looked between the elder brother and the younger one. "If I upset you, then I would want to know why. That way, I could avoid it."

Yet again, absolutely no response from the taiyoukai, except for a slight stiffening of the spine. The hanyou, on the other hand, seemed annoyed. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, a lovely gesture of irritation that he had picked up from her in the future. "I'm hungry," he stated point-blank. "I'm going fishing."

It was not until the hanyou walked away that Kagome realized how extremely tactful he was being. Sesshoumaru was much more likely to talk about his problems without an audience. Although the chance of him being open and friendly on any given subject were still quite low.

Once their companion's red fire-rat robes had disappeared into the surrounding forest, she turned back to the dog-demon. "Did I make you angry?"

"No." As usual, Sesshoumaru was willing to deny everything. The horizon held more interest than she did.

"Because you seemed frustrated, as you walked away," the priestess persisted. "If you urgently needed to buy a new kimono for Rin and patrol the border of the Western Lands, then you would have done it sooner."

A fleeting hint of confusion passed over his face. She hoped that it meant she was getting through to him, rather than making him feel even more frustrated and angry than before. Taking a small step forward, she kept from being rude and staring at _him_ by staring at the sword he carried instead.

"I did not buy an outfit for Rin," the taiyoukai admitted finally. The unspoken assertion was that he forgot. But she was kind and she chose not to remark upon it.

"There is still time," she smiled softly. "Although she cares more about you, than clothing, I think."

"Hn." A gentle breeze shifted through the leaves of the trees, signaling the approach of a distant storm. They probably had hours before the rain traveled this far. But without really thinking about it, Kagome found herself drifting closer to her companion's side.

Apparently, giving him additional time to formulate words was helpful. After a while, the white-haired demon continued. "I have come to the realization," he said slowly, "That you know nothing about soul-bonds except what I tell you, so you did not intend any insult."

"Insult?" she asked, trying to work through the statement in her mind. It was true that she knew nothing about the subject, except what he had briefly explained. "When I said that I hoped the bond would fade, I was trying to reassure you." Waving one hand in the air as if to erase her mistake, she explained quickly. "I did not know that a soul-bond never broke. I assumed... that you wanted it to."

"I know," he agreed. "But I never said such a thing." The words did not sound impatient or frustrated, simply informative.

She blushed lightly, fidgeting under his gaze. This time, however, she refused to interrupt. Trying to reassure him had backfired the last time.

"To form a blood-bond with another, it is an honor," he clarified, understanding now that he needed to spell everything out before she understood too. It was still difficult, but he gave it his best effort. Reaching out with one hand, he traced the back of her arm with his claws. "Our connection goes beyond that. Even for a youkai, such things are like stories and myths... When you stated that Inuyasha would guard you, Inuyasha would protect you, while I simply wandered off... This was what upset me."

The blush had intensified, as he spoke. Kagome felt silly for not running those words through her mind before she spoke earlier. Of course, it sounded bad. She had not intended to imply that Sesshoumaru should leave, while Inuyasha stayed by her side!

"I'm sorry," she murmured hesitantly.

"Perhaps it is a lesson for both of us," he pondered solemnly. "Communication is more important than assumptions."

At this, a tiny giggle escaped her. Kagome guessed it was the closest to an apology that she would receive. But she did not mind.

The hand that had been trailing up her arm moved to her face. He smoothed the hair behind her ear, moving it away from her cheek. If possible, the redness in her cheeks might have grown.

It was like he brushed away thoughts from her head with every movement of his fingers. Easing closer and closer, she slowly slid her fingers into the fuzzy, white fur that looped over his shoulder. This was entirely reasonable, she told herself. Her hands were cold, and the fur was warm. She remembered how nice it felt to snuggle against his shoulder in the underworld, while they traveled. Nevermind that it was no longer necessary.

The emotional side of the bond between them might have been affecting her too. She felt strangely fascinated by the taiyoukai at the moment. Still, they could not stay out here all day, could they? "Sh-should we find Inuyasha and keep walking toward the village?"

"No," he decided firmly.

"No?" she inquired.

With a non-committal hum, the dog-demon moved forward a bit more, until he was able to reach around her with his other arm. Tucking her against his chest, he stared at her. As if she was the most confusing person in the entire world. Kagome felt honored to have generated such a response from such a taciturn individual. This had happened once before, though. When they first created a bond, he had seemed strangely enthralled by her too.

She felt similarly confused. Yesterday, her hanyou guardian had tried to kiss her. It had made her feel nervous and uncomfortable, so she had told him to wait. But now, she was standing next to Sesshoumaru and she was thinking about kissing him.

What did it mean? She would not be like Inuyasha and attempt to have two love-interests at once. Yet although she still had feelings for her half-demon, she was contemplating his elder brother in such a fashion. This was inappropriate.

A thread of guilt wound its way around her heart. She tried to force herself to think about Inuyasha instead of her current companion. In response, the taiyoukai shook his head, as if to get rid of an idea. He drew away from her.

"What are you thinking?" asked Sesshoumaru curiously. Despite the connection they shared, thoughts did not pass through it, only feelings. He must have detected her hesitation and a touch of guilt.

Naturally, this made her feel even more guilty. On Sesshoumaru's behalf too, not just Inuyasha. It was insane, but she felt suddenly guilty for denying him. How often would someone like Sesshoumaru spend his attention on a human girl, like herself? Ah! She was completely hopeless.

Well, he had said that communication was more important than assumption. So, she should tell him what bothered her. Even if it sounded badly on the surface. Honesty was important too.

"I was..." she mumbled, picking at her sleeve. "I was thinking of Inuyasha. He tried to kiss me, but I did not let him." Embarrassment was not a fatal, was it? It seemed like it might be, sometimes.

Fortunately or unfortunately - she could not quite decide which - Sesshoumaru took this as a challenge. Instantly, he returned to her side and slid one hand around the back of her neck. She froze, staring at his eyes, golden pools that hovered in front of her. His gaze seemed warm, but his face was ashen, almost as pale as his silver hair.

Softly, he licked her lips, never breaking her gaze.

Kagome blinked. "Was that a kiss?" she asked, feeling puzzled. "I mean, I know that dogs greet people by licking them in the face, but..."

As she spoke, his eyes narrowed until Sesshoumaru looked almost grumpy. Playfully grumpy. Which was a combination she had not seen before, so it held her attention.

The next time he kissed her, it lasted longer, and it seemed more traditional. Also, it entirely erased her ability to focus. She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes in the hope it would help her concentrate. People were supposed to close their eyes when they kissed, right? But it merely made her more aware of his presence, the feeling of his body close to her, and his warmth. When she opened her eyes again, he was watching her with a hungry expression.

"You did not prevent _me_." His tone sounded smug.

Kagome rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Truly, it was not a competition. She still liked Inuyasha, even if she also... somehow... liked Sesshoumaru. She had not thought about which individual she liked _more_. There had not been enough time to consider such things yet.

Or perhaps she was thinking about this too much. The idea of snuggling up to Inuyasha made her nervous and flustered. _It always had._ But just as Sesshoumaru said, she had not felt this way about him. She had felt warm, and the tension had started to bleed out of her, not to mention the thoughts in her head, the longer they had kissed.

Damn it. How was she supposed to break this kind of news to Inuyasha? He was still her best friend in this era. She still cared about him a great deal!

And then, like a sudden silence during a storm, she realized that she did not need to. He already knew. When the hanyou had tried to kiss her, he had said that he was 'testing something.' And she had failed that test, hadn't she?

A fresh batch of guilty feelings welled up inside of her. At her side, Sesshoumaru sighed. "What now?" he prodded her verbally, obviously able to sense her discontent through the bond.

"Just because communication is important," she grumbled petulantly, "Doesn't mean that you should know every thought in my mind. Let's go buy Rin the kimono that you promised her."

The taiyoukai tilted his head to the side, contemplatively. But then, he agreed. Inuyasha would simply have to find his own way back to them.

"One for you, as well," he added.

Looking down at her school uniform, Kagome touched the shirt sadly. It was covered in spots of blood, and a multitude of tiny holes ran through the fabric, where a demonic-ant had attacked her with slivers of wood.

Yes, she probably needed a new outfit. The green and white fuku had been destroyed many other times, but she had always bought a replacement when she returned home. Now, she could not do that anymore.

Then, a revolutionary idea struck her. The changes caused by their bond and by having her soul stored briefly inside of the Tenseiga had never seemed so positive. "Hey! Sesshoumaru!" she called out. "Do _you_ think that I'm immortal now, because my soul was stored inside the Tenseiga?"

She had invented this theory earlier as a possibility. Not that she had any method of testing it. All they knew so far was that her injuries healed instantly. Still, she would be glad to know the demon-lord's opinion on the matter. It would mean more, if he agreed with her theory.

Perceptive as usual, he managed to reply to her actual concern, instead of the question she asked. "If so," he reassured her gently, "Then I am certain you will see your family again."

The smile on her face brightened. "I have a little brother too," she winked at him. "Did you know that?"

He strolled along the road toward the next town. Kagome followed happily. "Souta was always very mischievous," she continued happily, trying to phrase it so that her brother sounded faintly (very, very faintly) similar to Inuyasha. "He would never listen to what I told him. After our father died, I hated the fact that I had to take care of him after school. I wanted to play outside instead."

A muscle twitched in Sesshoumaru's jaw, and a small smile started to lift one corner of his lips. Clearly, he was not oblivious to the direction of her phrase. Yet it still amused him. Which was good.

"Really?" the taiyoukai said flatly. It did not sound like a question. More like a statement. "I always wanted a little sister, myself."

Kagome stared in disbelief. Next, she broke into a fit of giggles. "Ah! That explains so much about Rin."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was nightfall before the hanyou returned. Long past sunset, in fact.

They had traveled to a nearby town, buying fabric for several kimono, however Sesshoumaru intended to buy better silk whenever he had the chance. Rin deserved the best. So did Kagome, for that matter. As the current Lord of the Western Lands, it was not as if he did not have money to spare.

Then, they had waited out the oncoming storm at the edge of the town. Waiting under an awning, watching rain fall, the taiyoukai had discovered that traveling with the miko was different now. They had no time-constraint, no quest, no goal that needed to be met. It was actually relaxing.

Before Naraku, he had always enjoyed traveling too. This was one reason why he rarely went home. The other reason was, of course, his mother. Enough said.

When the rain became nothing more than a drizzle, they had traveled into the countryside again. Humans did not travel extremely fast, so Sesshoumaru knew his half-brother could trail them. He did not know, however, what was taking the boy so long. Perhaps the hanyou had already returned to his home village?

As they stopped for the evening, both the demon and the priestess had anxiously glanced toward the woods. The priestess had curled up by his side for a while, staring at the campfire with a frown. But eventually, she had surrendered to temptation. Resting her head against his shoulder, she had cautiously checked whether this move upset him. Since Sesshoumaru gave no sign, she had gradually fallen asleep. It was the same position they had maintained every single night in the underworld. Her breath was ruffling gently through his fur.

And at long last, Inuyasha returned. It seemed almost like he had been waiting for the girl to fall asleep. Making barely any sound, the half-demon landed across from them on the other side of the campfire.

Maintaining his silence, the white-haired boy crouched beside the trunk of a tree and crossed his arms. Pointed dog-ears faced firmly forward, as if the hanyou did not want to admit where his attention rested. However, it seemed obvious that he was focused on the sleeping girl at Sesshoumaru's side.

Neither one of them spoke. It felt incredibly awkward. He tried to recall a single time, when he had sat beside his brother without talking or fighting first. No. It had never happened.

In fact, the silence was even more painful than fighting. There were so many things that simply ached to be said between them. Why would Inuyasha refrain from commenting?

Staring at his younger half-sibling, Sesshoumaru tried to will the boy into speaking first. He could not guess what to do next. The bond between his spirit and Kagome's soul, this did provide any kind of insight into other people.

Finally, unable to stand the suspense, the demon-lord settled upon the most inane, pointless remark possible. "How was your fish?" he murmured.

Out of all the things he might have said, this was what emerged. After all, he could not ask what took Inuyasha so long to return - it would have implied that he missed his sibling. And he could not ask how Inuyasha felt about loosing the priestess - it would have been cruel. So, he settled for being mildly rude, instead of utterly insensitive.

"Keh!" scoffed the hanyou, turning his head to the side. Another moment of silence passed, then he began to relax. Almost imperceptibly slowly, Inuyasha gradually uncrossed his arms. One of his ears swiveled lazily to the side. "Didn't catch any," he finally announced. "Might have helped if I looked in _water_, rather than in trees."

Through the monochrome darkness, Sesshoumaru investigated his half-brother's gaze. Despite their differences, he realized, they had a few things in common. His hair was more silver than Inuyasha's white, his eyes were more golden than Inuyasha's amber, and their ears looked very different indeed. But they tended to express affection in a similar fashion. By not expressing it at all. How odd.

"I once discovered a fish outside of water," the taiyoukai noted idly. "It landed on my head, from a clear blue sky."

"No shit?" mouthed the hanyou, struggling to contain a smile. As usual though, since the boy was weak - only a half-blooded demon - he failed. The grin emerged victorious, fierce and fanged, unlike a human grin.

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru whispered in return, attempting not to awaken the miko at his side. "I picked it up to throw it back into the river. But my claws sliced it, and the fish died."

The air was crisp and clear, following the storm earlier in the day. It did nothing to dampen the sound of a tiny laugh, which escaped Inuyasha's lips. Completely against his will, of course.

Echoing his earlier words, the hanyou finally asked the inevitable question. "So... How was your fish?"

"Hn," the taiyoukai sniffed. "Not objectionable."

Kagome shifted, muttering incoherently in sleep. He glanced at the top of her head. Helpless to do otherwise, the half-demon sitting across from him did the same. She smiled, as if she could unconsciously detect their slow progress.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Author's Note: I did see a fish plummet out of the clear, blue sky once. It landed near my feet. My friend and I stared at it in disbelief. But since I do not have claws, I successfully returned the very (very) unhappy fish to a river.

Just thought I should add that.


End file.
